Banks moving towards mobile banking
By Mike Firn | Posted: 01 March 2013 2243 hrs
SINGAPORE: Bankers and software designers are meeting in Singapore to discuss how to take advantage of smartphones and tablets to expand their business.
Banks are shifting investment, from brick and mortar branches packed with staff to slick IT solutions.
Singapore software company Tagit is tailoring solutions differently for emerging markets like Indonesia and the Philippines, and banks with established networks in developed countries like Japan and Australia.
Sandeep Bagaria, CEO of Tagit, explained: "If you think of emerging markets, the innovation is coming around 'how do I reach a large mass of people using the mobile application and then necessarily providing new innovative services?' In developed markets, it's 'how can I provide them with more facilities, more services than I would do before?'"
But analysts say the rise of internet and mobile banking does not mean high-street bank branches are going to disappear. They say it may even get better.
Ho Sui-Jon, IDC associate market analyst, said: "If I go to a branch I would expect to get an experience that I cannot get from an ATM or browser-based banking. So all these branches are being re-tailored towards what we call 'flagship branch models', where we are trying to augment experience-driven technology augmented features."
For customers used to sitting down with their local bank manager, the idea of putting an app on their mobile may not seem appealing.
Mr Bagaria assured consumers who fear losing their phones: "It's not that the mobile app gets activated just because the phone is there. I need to put in a token when I need to do a transaction so the security levels are similar. It doesn't matter that you've left your phone behind."
With research group IDC forecasting that users in Asia will own half the world's smartphones within three years, mobile banking is likely to be a core strategy of the region's lenders.
- CNA/xq
- wong chee tat :)
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