Standard Bank talks up growth via mobile platforms
Standard Bank says it is currently opening up as many 7,000 new accounts a day via SMS technology.
The bank and software company, SAP announced on Thursday (14 February), that they have collaborated to bring mobile banking to half a million previously unbanked customers in South Africa.
Standard Bank’s mobile AccessAccount, which is based on a SAP mobile platform, is targetted at low-income individuals.
Over 22 million people in South Africa earn under R3,000 a month, SAP said; of that number 66% do not have bank accounts.
The AccessAccount has been set up in such a way that it’s easy for users in underserved areas – such as townships and rural areas – to create and set up a bank account from their mobile devices.
The platform supports multiple devices, has a strong security management component and allows users to perform transactions such as person-to-person transfers and purchasing of electricity and airtime through their mobile phones at any time.
Customers can also perform transactions such as cash-in, cash-out and money transfers at Standard Bank AccessPoints, which operate through partnerships with informal traders already running businesses in their communities.
According to SAP, since the platform’s inception in March 2012, the model has attracted more than 550,000 new customers to the product.
“We have built an entirely new IT system and platform that spans across all the bank’s offerings in our ‘Inclusive Banking’ business,” said Peter Wharton Hood, deputy chief executive, Standard Bank Group.
“Mobile origination is not only far more accessible for customers, it is also 80% cheaper,” he said.
Hood noted further that the app was helping the bank grow its cutomer base at a rate which exceeded their expectations.
“We are currently opening up to 7,000 new accounts a day via SMS technology, in less than six minutes per transaction,” Hood said.
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