South African financial services group Absa has publicly launched its new Internet banking services targeted at small business owners.
The new service allows entrepreneurs to do their tax returns, pay roll, purchasing and accounting online from one secure portal. Bank statements can be downloaded in different formats and integrated with bookkeeping packages such as MS Money and Quicken.
Business owners can authorise or deny individual staff members access to specific functions within their portfolios.
The service has been available to select customers for several months and over 52,000 existing business banking clients have already signed up.
Gavin Clark, general manager for small business at Absa, says: "The take-up has been phenomenal, which aptly demonstrates that the need has been there for such a service."
The bank is also providing small business owners with a dedicated portfolio manager at each Absa branch offering advice and assistance.