UK direct financial services firm Mint is launching a text alert service that enables customers to review transactions and balances and to make payments to their credit card bill using SMS messages.
The system works by sending customers a text alert to coincide with the issue of their monthly statement. The message contains details of the minimum payment required and outstanding balance, to which customers can reply by text for free, detailing the amount they would like to pay. The transaction is completed following an exchange of confirmations.
Customers signing up for the mobile service register their debit card and mobile phone details before agreeing a security code word, which is transmitted in all messages.
The firm, a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland, says it will only accept instructions from the mobile number registered and says no account numbers will ever be revealed in communication via text.
Mint says its research shows that over a quarter (27%) of UK adults say they are too busy to pay credit card bills through traditional service methods, with one in ten stating that all they wanted to know from a monthly statement is how much they have to pay.
In addition to the payment service, Mint is introducing text-based statement and balance service. By texting the word 'statement' cardholders can receive a text message containing details of their last five transactions. By sending the word 'balance' customers can also gain their latest balance along with the available credit left to spend.
Commenting on the new services, Jerry Toher, managing director, Mint, says: "By enabling people to simply send a text to get their balance and make a payment at any time of the day, our customers can manage their money easily."