iPhone payments app days away, NFC to follow

Beverley Head
Tuesday, 25 October 2011 14:41

Business IT - Networking

According to Michael Harte, the Commonwealth Bank's chief information officer, the bank's newly unveiled iPhone Kaching app could be available within a matter of days with only Appstore certification left to complete. There may however be a longer wait for the Near Field Communication enabled iPhone case which CBA had to offer as an add-on when Apple failed to integrate NFC in its latest iPhone.

The Kaching app will be free, but a price for the NFC enabled iPhone case is yet to be determined.

A spokesman for the bank today said that it was likely to be in the $30-40 range although the exact price and date of release was yet to be determined. Customers however can register their interest in getting a case with the CBA.

The bank remains confident that in spite of the delay it will be the first commercial application of an iPhone using NFC technology.

While the initial Kaching release is focussed on the iPhone, an Android version is also on the drawing board, and Mr Harte suggested that could be available in a matter of weeks. The bank said that would not be a retrofit of the iPhone Kaching app, but an app written from the ground up for Android devices.

Demand for earlier CBA apps has been strong according to the bank's chief marketing and online officer, Andrew Lark. Mr Lark, a former Dell executive, said that more than 1.9 million Commonwealth Bank apps had already been downloaded, along with 180,000 copies of its property guide and 85,000 iPad apps.

Demand was rising from mobile technology users with the bank registering 60 million log ins to its Netbank online platform in August alone.