St George upgrades mobile banking apps, CommBank to follow

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 05 July 2011 11:35

Your IT - Mobility

St George Bank has launched new mobile banking apps for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 smartphones, saying they offer faster and simpler access to its mobile banking services than the current apps.

The announcement comes a week ahead of one from the Commonwealth Bank which will launch its latest "integrated mobile banking technology" including "the new CommBank Smartphone mobile hub app [and] the NetBank tablet app" at a press conference next Tuesday 12 July.

St George CEO Rob Chapman said: "Customers who do their banking on their smartphone, will now have access to 95 percent of the features used most often through our Internet banking service."

He added: "With the emergence of a variety of new smartphones and tablets, mobile banking is becoming extremely competitive and important in the marketplace. St.George is committed to providing the simplest and most effective banking solutions, so we're focused on this space."

St.George Bank first launched its mobile banking services 18 months ago and claims that more than 20 percent of those customers who use Internet banking use the mobile apps.

Data just released by the ACMA indicates that, in December 2010, 67 percent of Internet users aged 14 and over used online banking and finance services, and 23 percent of Internet users did so from a mobile device. The ACMA estimates that 3.1 million Australians accessed the Internet from a mobile device in that month.

St George Bank CIO, Dhiren Kulkarni, said the bank received feedback on its mobile banking apps from around 400 customers each week and that this feedback had led to many of the improvements in the new apps. "Our customers told us that 70 percent of their mobile banking use is for simple things like balance and payments tracking. For this reason, our Apps for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7 now include Mobile Banking Lite - a fast access, read-only feature for this specific purpose."

Features available on the new apps include the ability to:
- check account balances, transfer funds, pay bills, view interest earned, schedule payments up to 24 months in advance;
- add BPAY billers and payees within the app, without the need to visit Internet banking first;
- view a summary of the last two years' interest charges across all accounts;
- calculate and convert foreign currency (iPhone and Android only);
- calculate savings and compare accounts;
- view 30 days of account history and information such as interest rates and next loan repayment date;
- view handy contact details;
- locate the nearest St.George ATM or branch.