Huge increase for cell banking

Absa bank has announced a 65% increase in its financial transactions made via cellphones.

Absa has announced a dramatic 65%nyear-on-year increase in financial transactions made via its three CellphonenBanking offerings.

“With a wide range of transactional andnenquiry services that are now available via Cellphone Banking, more customersnevery day are realising the convenience, simplicity and cost-effectiveness ofnbanking on their phones,” he adds. “It is not surprising, therefore, that wensigned up our three millionth Cellphone Banking user this week.”

Opperman believes that recentnCellphone Banking innovations, like enabling customers to apply for and receivena loan in just 10 minutes for instance, will continue to drive furthernmigration to this channel.

Prepaid airtime top-ups continue tonbe a popular Cellphone Banking service, recording a 69% year-on-year growth.

“We expect this momentum to continue.nOur recently announced agreement with Vodacom means that customers do not havento use any airtime to access our Cellphone Banking Lite service. No matternwhere they are, customers will be able to easily recharge their funds even ifnthey are completely out of airtime,” explains Opperman.

The domestic money transfer servicenCashSend, and the international version, Western Union money transfer, havenalso proven to be extremely successful with Absa’s Cellphone Banking customers.

More than a third of all CashSendntransactions are conducted via Cellphone Banking. “The average number ofnmonthly CashSend transactions that are made via Cellphone Banking has risen byn500% from last year, to over 37 000 per month,” states Opperman.

“CashSend is a truly game-changingninnovation,” says Opperman. “From wherever you may be, customers can make anninstant payment to anyone in South Africa, irrespective of whether they have anbank account or not – as long as they have a cellphone number.”

Drawing on Absa’s large footprint ofnalmost 6 000 ATMs, it is both easy and convenient for the recipient to accessnthese funds at their nearest ATM.

Absa has recently enhanced CashSendnto allow small business owners to instantly make multiple CashSend payments tona number of staff members, with one simple transaction. This innovationnsignificantly reduces the risks associated with carrying large sums of cash innorder to pay weekly wages or monthly salaries.

Although the bank currently boasts 3nmillion Cellphone Banking customers, the total number of customers interactingnwith Absa on the mobile channel exceeds 7 million.

“This is the number of customersnregistered for the SMS alert service, NotifyMe,“ says Opperman. “This handyntool is now nearing a 70% penetration rate in terms of our total base of activentransactional customers.”

Absa sends over 58 million NotifyMenmessages every month.

Statistics also show a 25% increasenin the number of businesses using Cellphone Banking to better control theirncompanies’ finances.

“The seamless integration betweennone’s Business Internet Banking service, and one’s Business Cellphone Bankingnservice makes the mobile phone a very useful tool for business owners andnmanagers who are always on the move,” says Opperman.

Over 90 000 businesses are now usingnCellphone Banking on a regular basis.

“Absa is constantly innovating in order to deliverncutting-edge, tailored solutions to all our customer segments. We are confidentnthat this will substantially drive up the number of cellphone banking users,”nconcludes Opperman.

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