Standard Bank Introduces New mBanking Tool In South Africa

By PYMNTS | May 19, 2013

Standard Bank in South Africa has announced the introduction of a new mobile banking tool, named AccessBanking, that will ideally connect with the unbanked customers in the country, reports Banking Technology. South Africa has a population of 50.6 million residents, and about 22 million of have an income of less than 30,000 rand per month. Of the 22 million people, roughly 66 percent reported to not have a bank account. Standard Bank agents are able to create new accounts for customers in only a few minutes—a feature the bank hopes will help attract new customers to open accounts. The mobile app is linked with the AccessAccount and will allow users to make person-to-person money transfers and purchase electricity and airtime.

“This is a very exciting time for us at Standard Bank. We have built an entirely new IT system and platform that spans across all the bank’s offerings in our inclusive banking business. Mobile origination is not only far more accessible for customers, it is also 80 percent cheaper,” said Peter Wharton Hood, deputy chief executive at Standard Bank Group.