CommBank brings NetBank to Android flank

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 27 February 2011 14:24

Your IT - Mobility

Australia's 'which bank' is bringing its mobile NetBank service to Android OS smartphones from Monday the 28th of Feb, two years after the iPhone NetBank service first launched.

If you're a 'which bank?' customer using an Android OS powered smartphone, the Commonwealth Bank's iPhone support definitely wasn't the droid you were looking for.

However, after two years of iPhone support, the Android OS has finally stopped being on the CommBank's wish list and is supported too, at last. 

CommBank says that a 'customised NetBank mobile banking app from the Android Market' is finally going to be made available, designed to deliver an enhanced 'mobile banking experience with customised screen sizes and resolution' and 'faster processing times', along with a 'Remember Client' feature that is included to 'speed up the logon process for NetBank Mobile customers.'

The CommBank's 'Executive General Manager for Direct Channels', Quentin Boyes, went in to bat for the bank's iPhone support, noting NetBank's 'tremendous growth in popularity' since the iPhone version launched.

Mr Boyes said that 'Approximately 20 per cent of total daily NetBank logons are initiated through mobile devices with iPhone holding pole position to date. However, we have seen the popularity of Android phones double in the past three months, hence this launch.

'Our primary goal is to monitor how our customers are interacting with NetBank and stay one step ahead to deliver the best online customer experience. We have a number of exciting new developments coming down the line over the coming months to further help our customers manage their finances on the go, anytime, anywhere', concluded Mr Boyes.

Hopefully CommBank will make Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry, WebOS and Samsung Bada versions of its NetBank app far faster than the literally hundreds of days it took to get from an iPhone app to an Android app - after all, just as the iPhone does not interest all users, neither does Android, although they are certainly the top two smartphone operating systems of the moment.

Other banks should also likewise hurry up - there's a lot of Android users out there, and no doubt they want their Android OS banking apps too.

So, what will the new app let you do, and is the app available today rather than having to wait until tomorrow? Please read on to page two!