Mobile News

The Egg service plans to introduce a price comparison service between online stores, as well as allowing WAP access to the Egg shop. The First-e WAP service was launched in May 2000 and is the only WAP service that requires users to have their own ISP account. This has the effect of divesting the bank of responsibility for the dial-up infrastructure–it assumes a more educated customer and results in greater coalescence between the fixed and mobile internet channels. Since First-e does not provision the phone over the air, the prospects for handset support are improved. Woolwich’s WAP service has been heavily marketed as part of its Open Plan service: along with Abbey National it offers the most comprehensive functionality, including bill payment and a mortgage calculator. Abbey National’s WAP service is notable for its portal relationship with MVIVA (due to commence in early 2001), which frees the service from operator portal access only. MVIVA is a joint venture between AOL and Carphone Warehouse, a partnership that leverages strong internet brand with control of handset configuration in terms of default homepage setting. In combination with the online help for reconfiguration if access is via a non-Orange phone, Abbey National’s service is not so heavily circumscribed by an operator-handset deal as the aforementioned WAP services.

The first UK mobile banking service was launched in 1998 by the Cooperative Bank and involved dialing an IVR server and entering a PIN. An SMS message would then be sent containing the current balance and last four transactions. First Direct’s SMS service (soon to be superseded by WAP) is more advanced: a regular account balance is supplemented by an SMS alert when the balance dips below a pre-agreed level. This proactive `push’ facility elicits how useful a simple SMS service can be–particularly given the absence of handset restrictions. HSBC’s SIM Toolkit (STK) service was launched in April 1999 in association with BT Cellnet–the user receives a replacement SIM card containing a banking application. Yet full STK functionality (eg improved security) is ignored: once the balance enquiry option is selected, the handset merely dials the standard HSBC call centre. Nevertheless, the simplicity of SMS services chimes with the basic functionality currently available on the GSM handset. WAP services await portal development and handset support: free handset offers demonstrate the banks’ willingness to offer another channel to existing clients. Mobile banking is not yet the personalised lifestyle tool with banking functionality as a taster for m-commerce benefits.