SECAUCUS, N.J. — NYCE says it will offer balance inquiries by text message to its financial institution participants as a standard feature of full participation in the NYCE Network.
NYCE Payments Network LLC is a leading U.S. electronic payments network and a Metavante Corp. company. Metavante was recently acquired by Fidelity National.
According to a news release, the basic text message transactions will be an extension of the balance inquiry functionality commonly available at NYCE Network ATMs, with no additional fees for mobilization. The new service, powered by Monitise Americas, will allow consumers to use text messaging to request and receive real-time balance information on their primary accounts. Text message balance inquiries will work for virtually all mobile phone users regardless of their mobile carrier or the type of handset they use.
"Text message balance inquiries further extend the reach of our nationwide ATM network directly into the pockets of the country's mobile phone users," said Steve Rathgaber, NYCE president and chief operating officer. "With mobile financial services quickly becoming mainstream, NYCE believes that consumers will soon expect the ability to access their demand deposit accounts using their mobile phones — in much the same way they expect that access through an ATM today."
In a recent survey of North American consumers, commissioned by Monitise Americas and conducted by MaCorr Research1, more than three-fourths of the total respondents said it was important for them to have real-time information regarding their accounts. Of those who said they would like to use their mobile phones for financial services, more than 90 percent stated that they are interested in basic informational capabilities such as checking their account balances on the go.
