ForeningsSparbanken (Swedbank) is collaborating with Vodafone Sweden on the development of a suite of mobile banking services.
The first stage of the programme, scheduled for deployment in the autumn, will enable ForeningsSparbanken and its independent savings banks and jointly owned banks, to offer their almost 1.3 million Internet bank retail customers the chance to sign mobile subscriptions, buy prepaid cards and access their bank balance details, as well as itemised call information.
The idea is to provide a service which enables customers to handle all their household and mobile finances from a single handset, says Marie Persson Bjorkman, head of service provision at Vodafone Sweden: "ForeningsSparbanken will be the first bank in the Nordic region to allow customers to access information about their private finances and mobile telephony at one and the same place."
She says the agreement signals the start of a long-term working partnership in which both parties will jointly develop a range of mobile services specially designed for the bank's customers.