UK Web bank Egg has teamed with mobile network operator O2 to launch a wireless banking service over the i-mode platform.
O2 plans to launch a UK version of the i-mode mobile Internet service, which was developed by Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo, in October. The service has over 55 million users worldwide, and over a million consumers use the system to access their Internet banking service every month.
Egg is the first banking provider on the Uk version of the i-mode service. Egg customers with i-mode phones will be able to use their current login to access details of balances, transactions and information on their accounts.
The bank says it may also develop the m-banking service further in the coming months to enable customers to transfer funds to other providers' accounts, or make personal payments via their mobile phones to other i-mode users.
Andy Thompson, director of propositions at Egg, says in-house research shows that over 50% of the bank's customers want mobile access to accounts.
"Consumers do not know at any given time how much money they have available to spend and over half are keen to embrace mobile internet banking as a method of managing their money," says Thompson. "Our service on i-mode is the start of a revolution in how consumers interact with their finances, providing them with immediate, convenient and fast access to their money wherever they are."
O2 says the UK-version of the i-mode service will also include news sites such as Financial Times, The Times Online and Sky News, along with entertainment sites such as Channel 4, the National Lottery and F1-Live.com.