Banks invest in mobile, online services
Oct 12, 2012 Dave King
Computerworld recently reported that ANZ Bank announced it would invest roughly $1.5 billion in mobile banking capabilities and videoconferencing, largely in an effort to improve the experiences of current customers and reach new prospects. According to the source, the bank, based in Australia, will make this investment as part of an ongoing initiative that will span over the next few years. "We know our customers prefer to do their day-to-day transactions in their own time either online or by using mobile devices so our task is to respond to this change by embracing the online and digital challenge and enable our customers to bank with us on their terms," Philip Chronican, chief executive officer of ANZ Bank, told Computerworld. The bank already has some services that involve near field communication (NFC) technology, though it wants to expand this. The news provider explained that ANZ is currently working on a mobile application that would be able to process same-day transactions from credit and debit cards. Additionally, the financial institutions plans to eventually have ATMs that use NFC readers, to provide 24-hour service. American-based banks follow suit
Last month, American Banker reported that several major banks in the United States are making mobile banking a priority in upcoming years. The news provider cited executives of Bank of America saying that mobile banking is their top initiative, while security to protect the new and remaining systems will also be crucial to success. Many individuals prefer mobile and online banking over traditional services, as the technology enables 24-hour access to accounts with little-to-no hassle. Further, businesses are largely moving to ACH card and wire based transfers for a variety of accounts payable and receivable tasks, such as payroll, automated vendor payments and more.