Mobile Banking Updates International - Jan 25

Students given tips on mobile banking
"A mobile banking camp was organized at Magadh Mahila College on Monday by the State Bank of India (SBI), Personal Banking branch, Patna, for creating awareness among the younger generation about the Mobile Banking Services (MBS) provided by the bank. 'Bank in your hand, that's SBI Mobile Banking,' was how the 300 young girls of the college, who learnt the Mobile Banking Technique, reacted."

A New Order Emerging in Mobile Based Financial Services
"India is at the cusp of evolving a radical mobile-based banking & payments framework, which could potentially revolutionize the approach to financial inclusion and electronic payments. With over 700 million mobile connections, and growing, much has been written about the opportunity for leveraging the mobile to empower citizens to conduct safe and trustworthy transactions including cash deposits, withdrawals, balance enquiry, payments and transfers."

Slowly but surely, mobile banking is entrenching itself
"If the bets of banks and mobile operators pay off, before long you should be able to walk into an Airtel or a Vodafone store and open a bank account, deposit or withdraw money from your account. Besides getting India villages, with its increasing disposable incomes thanks to rural employment guarantee schemes, into the banking fold, mobile banking will also free us from the hassle of carrying cash or cards to pay your driver’s salary or to pay the cabbie or for your grocery."

The best apps for mobile banking
"The arrival of 2011 has seen the launch of the UK's first access all areas banking application (app) for iPhone users. First Direct's new Banking On The Go app was launched on the apple app store on 13th January and so far it has been downloaded almost 10,000 times. With this app customers can check their balance, view the last 20 account transactions, make payments and transfer money between accounts."

Southtech sets up mobile-banking system at Bhutanese bank
"Southtech Limited, a Bangladeshi software company, has successfully implemented mobile-banking system at Bhutan Development Financial Corporation Limited (BDFCL), having 29 branches there. Southtech Ltd managing director Syed Mamnun Quader told the FE, "Now customers of the bank can obtain their latest account information with cellphones, instruct the bank to transfer fund, pay utility bills like water, electricity and city corporation bills, and top-up their phones."

Mobile money apps will transform way we live
"FOR Western consumers, the ability to transfer money from one place to another is just one way technology has made our lives easier. However, perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of the advances in mobile banking are in emerging economies. In Nigeria, for example, only 19 million of the 149 million population have bank accounts, but 75 million have mobile phones. Therefore the ability to use a phone as a conduit for funds is crucial, whether it’s for buying products or sending cash to the family."