Icici Bank has rolled out a payment initiation service for customers of its iMobile banking service using innovative 'smartphone keyboard' technology from one of the winners of the Indian bank's mobile development challenge.
By long pressing the ‘globe icon’ on their smartphone keyboard, the SmartKeys service pop-up allows users to transfer money to registered beneficiaries, pay their utility bills and top-up air time without having to open a new tab or switch out of their ongoing application.
Available currently for iOS phones, the bank says it will soon roll out the feature for Android phones, where customers will be able to simply shake the phone while they are on any application screen to change the keyboard to ‘Smartkeys’.
The new service emerged from the 'Icici Appathon', which took place in April this year in Mumbai and attracted over 2000 participants.
B. Madhivanan, chief technology & digital officer, Icici, ascribes the fast roll out as testimony to the bank's continuing efforts to work with innovative startups to improve banking services for its customers.
"With India becoming the second largest market globally in terms of mobile subscribers as well as smartphones, we are witnessing a paradigm shift in consumer preferences towards doing everything ‘on-the-go’," he says. "This new service further resonates our effort at bringing in path breaking solutions, making mobile banking simpler than ever before. We will continue the model of co-creating with quality start-ups and technology companies to deliver innovative products and services to our customers”