BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BANKING has been made easier and much more convenient with the launch of the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Limited’s (SKNANB) ‘MoBanking’.
With the innovative service, SKNANB customers with LIME mobile phones can send text messages to check their account balances, view recent transaction history, pay bills to selected merchants, transfer funds between accounts and receive transaction alerts such as salary and bill payments.
MoBanking was officially announced on Friday (July 24) at the bank’s offices in Port Zante. The launch was done in collaboration with several other indigenous banks within the region - the ABI Bank Ltd. of Antigua, the TCI Bank of the Turks and Caicos, the First National Bank St. Lucia Ltd. and the National Bank of Dominica.
“National has raised the bar of bringing banking services to every household in the Federation to a staggering new level. We have essentially placed a branch in every house in St. Kitts and Nevis,” said SKANB Executive Marketing Director Patricia Wilkinson.
“Our vision is to be recognised internationally as a premier institution through advanced technology, strategic alliances and superior product and services. Today we are making a giant leap towards the realisation of this vision. MoBanking is indeed banking in the palm of your hand.”
The service is open to any customer of the aforementioned banks in possession of a mobile phone with text messaging capabilities. Although MoBanking can currently only be operated on the LIME platform, Wilkinson revealed negotiations are underway with Digicel and other regional carriers to extend the service.
Application sheets are available at every SKNANB branch in the Federation. Bank customers will not be charged for use of the service; however, they will be subject to normal text message rates.
MoBanking also has an internet component whereby customers can log onto a website to manage accounts through their mobile phones.
Seeking to allay any concerns about privacy or confidentiality breaches, SKNANB IT Director Junior Jules reassured that the system was “private and secure”.
“Once customers set up an account, they are given a username and password so they can use their cells to check their account online. After they have logged off from the system, no one besides them will be able to re-access the information. None of the data is stored on the phone.”
He added, “When persons text to the short code, they will receive a message containing the information they requested but their account number or name will not be transmitted. However, text messages are stored on phones unless the owner deletes them. Customers will have to be responsible in ensuring they don’t leave that information lying around.”
