Mobile banking applications have seen phenomenal growth and acceptance by customers in South Africa. So which bank has the best one? I set out to find out by comparing the features of the various app.
I grouped the features into sections and gave each one a score. 1 point for every feature they have, 0 if they don't have that feature. I then totalled it up to get an overall score.
| Banking Services | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| View account balances and transaction history | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Once off payments | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Payments to your recipients | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Future-dated transaction | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Recurring transactions | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Add beneficiaries | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Update, view and delete beneficiary details | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Transfers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Show account info in a graph | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Net balance of all accounts | - | - | - | 1 | - |
| Stop payment | - | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Multiple transactions | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| E-bills | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| SMS notification per login | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| Multi-user access | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Add beneficiary's picture | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Add favorite transactions | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Section Score | 11 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 11 |
| Purchase Additional Services | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| Buy prepaid airtime (Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, 8.ta, Virgin Mobile) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Buy prepaid data and SMS | 1 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Buy prepaid electricity | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Buy Lotto | - | - | - | - | - |
| Section Score | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Wallets | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| Proximity payments | - | 1 | 1 | - | - |
Money send:
Nedbank - mPesa
Standard bank - wallet
FNB - wallet | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Allows other banks' customers access | - | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Section Score | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Lead forms | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| Leads to open account | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Section Score | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Locator | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| Locate your nearest branch or ATM | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Get directions to branch and ATM locations from where you are | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Section Score | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Forex | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| Forex rates table | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Section Score | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Calculators | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| Home loan | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Vehicle finance | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Prersonal loan | 1 | - | - | 1 | - |
| Forex calc | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Goal save | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Investment | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Section Score | Y | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Share trading | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| Viewing share portfolio; Placing trades; Cancelling trades; Viewing order book; Change password | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Section Score | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Contacts | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| Branch contact numbers | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Make FREE calls to call centres | - | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| List of important contact details | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Section Score | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Corporate Banking | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| View balances / statements; Authorise payments; Authorise e-bill payments; Authorise transfers; Authorise collections; Authorise beneficiaries; Authorise users; Change password | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Section Score | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other Services | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| Secure message to bank | - | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| View videos in app | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| Banners inside the app | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Change to different language options in the app | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Section Score | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Platforms | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| Android | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| iOS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| BlackBerry | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| BlackBerry 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Nokia | - | 1 | - | - | - |
| Windows Phone | - | - | - | 1 | - |
| Feature Phone | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Section Score | 5 | 5 | Y | 5 | 2 |
Disclaimer: This is not an indication of which app performs best. This chart is based on my research and experience and of features and is just an indication.
When I total up all the section scores, Nedbank comes out tops with 32, followed by ABSA with 26, followed by FNB with 25, followed by RMB with 23, followed by Standard Bank with 21.
| TOTAL SCORES | Nedbank | FNB | RMB | Std Bank | ABSA |
| 32 | 25 | 23 | 21 | 26 |
The apps are available here:
Nedbank - http://www.nedbank.co.za/website/content/nedbank_app/index_app.asp
FNB - https://www.fnb.co.za/fnbapp/
RMB - https://www.rmbprivatebank.com/rmbpbapp/
Standard Bank - http://www.standardbank.co.za/portal/site/standardbank
ABSA - http://absa.co.za/Absacoza/Offers/Featured-Solutions/App-from-Absa