{"id":63466,"date":"2012-11-04T10:29:41","date_gmt":"2012-11-04T08:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=63466"},"modified":"2012-11-04T10:34:43","modified_gmt":"2012-11-04T08:34:43","slug":"absa-app-soft-launch-in-november","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/banking\/63466-absa-app-soft-launch-in-november.html","title":{"rendered":"Absa app soft launch in November"},"content":{"rendered":"

Absa<\/a> might be late out of the blocks to get its banking app to market, but Arrie Rautenbach<\/a>, Absa head of retail markets, promises that it will be better than whatever is out there at the moment.<\/p>\n

In an interview with\u00a0Moneyweb<\/em><\/a>\u00a0Rautenbach revealed that the app will be launched to Absa\u2019s staff in November and that it will then be available to clients in the first quarter of next year.<\/p>\n

When asked about Absa\u2019s digital strategy, given that all the other big banks have already launched their apps to their clients in a drive to get them to migrate to cheaper digital platforms, Rautenbach explained that under the bank\u2019s retail banking strategy, nothing is ever done in isolation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDigital banking is just a functional component (of retail banking) that is critical,\u201d he said. \u201cWhatever we do will have a digital component.\u201d<\/p>\n

Absa is the biggest retail bank in South Africa by client numbers \u2013 currently around 11m and soon to be even higher when the inorganic growth of acquiring Edcon\u2019s debt portfolio comes to fruition come November 1.<\/p>\n

Then the client numbers could be pushed up to about 13m, Rautenbach said.<\/p>\n

Not all of these clients will use something like a banking app and Rautenbach reiterated that it is important to understand that customers want multiple platforms and that you cannot neglect the one in favour of the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think of our digital journey as a continuation of events rather than just a single event. It\u2019s a journey on a set of tracks that will enable customer migration to digital channels over time and will include enablement across borders,\u201d Rautenbach said.<\/p>\n

\"Arrie<\/a>

Arrie Rautenbach<\/p><\/div>\n

Barclays, Absa\u2019s majority shareholder, recently launched its Pingit mobile-to-mobile payment system in Kenya where customers can send money across borders using only the recipient\u2019s phone number.<\/p>\n

Rautenbach said that technology and services like these are part of what Barclays brings to the table for Absa and its clients. He said innovations like Pingit and CashSend, where Absa allows you to send funds to people without bank accounts that can then be withdrawn from Absa ATM using just a reference number and access code, will eventually develop and expand. It can become Absa to non-Absa solutions, then ultimately cross-border solutions and will drive \u201cinnovation over time\u201d.<\/p>\n

About the app Rautenbach said that it will be functionality-rich and embedded in the native of the device and will be more than what is available in the market. \u201cIt will be that plus incremental,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Related articles<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nedbank app live for Android users<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

No Absa app this year<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Absa banking app \u2013 last out the door<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

FNB App hits 40,000 monthly activations<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

FNB banking app hits transactions landmark<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Absa might be late out of the blocks to get its banking app to market, Absa promises that it will be better than whatever is out there at the moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":340887,"featured_media":37813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10106],"tags":[2186,7269,3464,16504,35],"class_list":["post-63466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","tag-absa","tag-arrie-rautenbach","tag-barclays","tag-edcon","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63466"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/340887"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63470,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63466\/revisions\/63470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}