Surge in cell banking usage
During the course of April 2006 Absa’s cellphone banking customers performed around 200,000 financial transactions estimated at R210m.
The most popular financial transactions are prepaid top-ups for cellphone airtime, inter-account transfers and payments.
"What this tells us is that cellphone banking is being used as a convenient cousin to Internet Banking," says Christo Vrey, Absa General Manager: Digital Channels.
"When people don’t have access to electricity or are just not close to an Internet connection, and would rather not use a public facility such as an Internet café because of the risks, they are turning to cellphone banking."
What has also impacted on customer growth is Absa’s internet based cellphone banking – introduced to the market in March 2006 as an alternative to the traditional SMS-based cellphone banking.
"Internet based cellphone banking is particularly easy for those who are used to internet banking because the layout is very similar to Internet banking," says Vrey.
Other advantages include:
- No delays;
- No need for SMSs or punch in codes to get balances, make payments and transfers or buy prepaid airtime;
- Easy scroll to your account details appearing on single screen; and
- Select beneficiaries, transaction histories and request proof of payments – just as you would on the internet.
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