International Mobile Banking Updates - Jun 22

Online banking problems mount for Oz banks as CBA's NetBank breaks down
"The rash of online banking failures in Australia continues, as Commonwealth Bank of Australia struggles to remedy a technical error that has locked customers out of its NetBank site."

Scotiabank Wins Model Bank Award for Mobile Banking
"Scotiabank's Canadian mobile banking service has won the 2011 Celent Model Bank Award, for innovative and effective technology usage in banking. Celent is a research and consulting firm focused on the application of information technology in the global financial services industry."

Technology news: Mobile banking by MCB
"Henceforth, banking transactions can be done anywhere if someone possesses a mobile phone and is a client of the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB). With the launch of Internet Banking and mobile application, the client can have access to his/her banking transactions anytime, day and night."

Banking Via a Cellphone and a Shack
"Mavis Nonkongozelo walks up to the Five Sisters convenience store here, then pulls a mobile phone from her bag and a few rands from her brassiere. She is ready to bank.

With a few taps on her cellphone, the 34-year old preschool teacher connects to a nascent mobile-banking network aimed at Africa's new consumers. The saleswoman accepts a 20 rand ($2.94) bill through a barred window and then taps back on her cellphone. Soon, the money is credited to a special no-fee account at Standard Bank, South Africa's largest."

Bank of New Zealand Requires Customers to Protect Their Own Mobile Banking Accounts
"Bank of New Zealand has taken the unusual step of demanding that its customers protect their own online and mobile banking accounts by taking several precautions.

The New Zealand affiliate of National Australia Bank does provide a layer of security that not all banks do. It gives out a NetGuard card to consumers that they can use at login to authenticate themselves. The card contains a grid of numbers and letters from which they enter three values that match randomly selected co-ordinates. To business customers, BNZ gives out a NetGuard token that generates temporary passwords."