BROOKFIELD, Wis. — Fiserv Inc. is now providing its Mobile Money service to Bangkok Bank, one of the only banks in Thailand using an international mobile banking solution.
According to a news release, customers can now access Bangkok Bank's Internet banking platform, Bualuang iBanking, securely on their mobile phones, enabling them to view account information, pay bills, transfer funds and top up their mobile-phone accounts.
The application is available in both English and Thai languages.
"The uptake of this cutting-edge consumer banking technology demonstrates a significant shift in how banks across the world connect with their customers," said Karen Campbell, Bangkok Bank's executive vice president. "Customers in Asia are at least as demanding as their counterparts in Europe and the U.S. — they need the portable banking tools to complement their busy, highly mobile lifestyle. We recently observed a group of late teens in a focus group talking about how going to an ATM was too much effort for them — they expressed a need for total mobility."
Thailand's mobile penetration rate is greater than 80 percent, one of the highest in Asia-Pacific, up from 44 percent in 2004.
"Mobile Money from Fiserv is unique because it helps financial institutions deepen existing online banking relationships, in addition to making their offline customer mobile banking relationships more profitable," said Todd Lesher, president, Electronic Banking Services for Fiserv.
Powered by technology from Atlanta-based M-Com Inc., Mobile Money from Fiserv was launched in September 2008. Mobile Money is already recognized as one of the industry's most complete mobile banking and payments solutions due to its ability to support consumer banking via short messaging service, wireless application protocol and downloadable mobile applications.
M-Com's mobile solutions are used by some of the world's largest financial institutions, including Washington Mutual Inc., ANZ Banking Group, Westpac Banking Corp., Electronic Transaction Services Ltd. (Paymark) and GE Money.
"Bangkok Bank recognizes that the mobile channel is a vital part of its future. Our strategic alliance with Fiserv ensures that we can provide banks like Bangkok Bank with gold-standard payments processing, innovation, operational excellence and industry-leading execution," said Adam Clark, founder and chief executive of M-Com. "This deployment is evidence of that commitment."
