Mobile banking systems vendor 724 Solutions has launched Command Banking, a software package for banks to create SMS-based wireless customer communications channels.
Bank customers will be able to use Command Banking to get account balances, transfer funds, pay bills and check account activity. Users can initiate a session or be prompted to action through an alert generated message.
A recent downturn in mobile banking uptake has forced key 724 customers and investors, most notably Bank of Montreal, to shut down their m-commerce operations. John Sims, chief executive officer, 724 Solutions nonetheless remains upbeat about prospects for the new product.
“I can quickly send a message off to my bank and immediately see balances and recent transactions," he says. "A few more keystrokes and I’ve made a transfer. It’s the speed, the simplicity and the incredible penetration of these channels that is making financial institutions revisit the mobile opportunity."
Sims says the adoption of popular Short Messaging Service (SMS), secure instant messaging and other asynchronous messaging channels provides a ready alternative to WAP and other first-generation mobile browsers that have traditionally been a barrier to mobile adoption.
Seperately, the company has announced the expansion of its reseller agreement with Middle Eastern systems integrator International Turnkey Systems (ITS). 724 first entered the Middle East market in early 2001, when it forged an agreement with ITS to provide mobile banking services for three of the leading banks in the Middle East.