FNB builds on cellular offerings

Advances in technology are facilitating new cellular banking offerings for sophisticated consumers.

Len Pienaar, CEO of First National Bank's (FNB's) mobile and transact solutions division, says the retail bank has introduced two new cellular-based offerings for consumers as it marks the second anniversary of the introduction of SMS banking.

The first sees FNB resurrecting wireless application protocol (WAP) technology with the FNB.mobi service.

Explains Pienaar: "We have kept an eye on WAP technology for a long time, but it was never mature enough to warrant adoption. However, the new WAP channel is significantly different from its earlier iterations."

Unlike its prior SMS and unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) or menu-based system offerings, the FNB.mobi service sees the bank move away from broadly available technologies to service customers with more sophisticated technologies.

"The FNB.mobi service is only accessible to customers with data access and WAP2 functionality on their phones. However, it provides greater cost-efficiencies for customers and its user interface provides a superior experience," says Pienaar.

The new service removes the requirement to enter FNB's Web address, replacing this with a phone number. A favourites function has also been introduced, enabling customers to repeat transactions.

FNB will also provide online shoppers with the option to pay via cellphone.

"Online purchasing has to date been limited to people with credit cards, excluding a wide base of debit-cardholders," says Pienaar. "FNB's Cell Pay Point brings debit-cardholders into the digital economy, as well as addressing some of the security concerns in the marketplace."

However, consumers will have to wait for broad access, as the Cell Pay Point solution requires vendors to sign up with the bank before the service is available on its Web site.

"We launched Cell Pay Point with wireless application service provider eXactmobile but we are expecting to see uptake from other online retailers as interest grows," says Pienaar.

When Cell Pay Point is chosen as the payment mechanism, the vendor displays a reference number, which the customer dials using USSD. Once the customer is authenticated, and the purchase confirmed, the payment is processed with both customer and vendor receiving notification.

"Cellular is an important channel for FNB as it is pretty much pervasive throughout SA. We have been pleasantly surprised by the adoption of cellular banking by our entry-level customers too. We intend to grow on this success through broadening access and continuing to focus on innovation as a key performance indicator," concludes Pienaar.