Absa says that it has been leading the way in online banking since it launched South Africa\u2019s first online banking service in 1996. The bank’s new online banking platform, Absa said, represents a distinct step-change from the previous generation of online services and from its competitors.<\/p>\n
In South Africa, FNB is widely seen as the top bank, and according to the company, its success is based on low bank fees, innovative banking and a rich reward programme.<\/p>\n
However, Absa argued that its innovations provide a strong argument for clients to use its services instead of FNB.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsa has led the way in online banking since it launched South Africa\u2019s first online banking service in 1996. The establishment of Absa Internet Access (which became SA\u2019s third largest ISP by the time of its sale to Vox in 2007) was a crucial factor in igniting online banking locally,\u201d said Arrie Rautenbach, Absa\u2019s head of retail markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then Absa has led the way in online banking, in terms of sheer customer volumes, breadth of financial services available online, and the rate of innovation in this channel.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Rautenbach, one trillion rand is processed annually by their 1.3 million online banking customers. \u201cAt peak periods of activity \u2013 notably at month-end \u2013 we see up to 9000 people transacting via our online platform at any given moment,\u201d Rautenbach said.<\/p>\n
Rautenbach added that the recent public release of Absa Online \u2013 Absa\u2019s new online banking platform \u2013 represents a distinct step-change from its previous generation of online services and from the bank’s competitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are taking the online channel from being a purely transactional service, to a comprehensive suite of transactional and non-transactional services,\u201d said Rautenbach.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom this portal, neatly behind a single sign-on, customers can view and manage all Cheque and Savings accounts, Credit Cards, Mortgages, Vehicle and Asset Loans, Investments, Unit Trusts, and even Online Share Trading accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Absa further said that its online interface features a host of South African “firsts”, including Web 2.0 style personalisation elements, visually-rich graphs and calculators to provide a consolidated, dashboard view of one\u2019s personal finances and messaging tools giving the customers direct access to customer support.<\/p>\n
“In the realm of innovation, Absa continues to lead the local market \u2013 most recently with a raft of innovations in the contactless payments and self-service channel spaces,” said\u00a0Rautenbach.<\/p>\n
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