Ayodele Aminu
24 February 2005
Lagos — Subscribers of Glo - mobile will from February 28 benefit from electronic banking as the telephone company commences trials of its mobile banking service which will network with 23 banks.
This service will provide all Glo Mobile customers easy access to their bank accounts from their mobile phones within the Glo coverage area.
Globacom's Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mohammed Jameel disclosed this at a press conference in Lagos yesterday.
He said subscribers can check their bank account balances, view the last five transactions on the account, transfer funds from one account to the other in the same bank and recharge a Glo prepaid line directly from their Glo Mobile phones.
"Globacom subscribers can do virtually all banking transactions with their mobile phones. This is the first time in Nigeria that one single application will provide a uniform interface to a multitude of banks," he added.
Within the next couple of weeks, Jameel revealed that Globacom would to go a step further in its M- banking with the commencement of inter-bank funds transfer before making its service available for utility bills and micro payments to mention but a few.
Offered in collaboration with Interswitch, Nigeria's premier e-payment switch, Glo M-Banking offers subscribers access to real-time personal banking information and saves time and money as the subscriber is able to do much of his banking transactions from the comfort of his house, office, on the road or anywhere he chooses.
Presently the service is available in 16 banks. They include First Bank Nigeria Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank Plc, Afribank Nigeria Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc and Chartered Bank. Others include, Platinum Bank, Prudent Bank, Standard Trust Bank, Universal Trust Bank, Bond Bank, Gulf Bank, National Bank, First City Monument Bank and United Bank for Africa (UBA). The other seven banks (Continental Trust Bank, Diamond Bank, EIB International Bank, Equitorial Trust Bank, Magnum Trust Bank, Union Bank and Access Bank) which will also soon go live are said to be at the implementation stage.
To access the service, the subscriber is required to register at any of the participating banks that hold the account of the subscriber. A subscriber can request for the service by filling up the Glo M-Banking request form. Upon successful activation of the service, he/she will receive a welcome SMS on the mobile phone informing him/her that the M-Banking service has now been activated. To access this service, subscribers need the Personal Identification Number (PIN) issued by the bank. If he already has a debit card, the debit card PIN automatically serves as the PIN required to access the M-Banking service.
To use the facility, the subscriber is required to select "check balance" on the Magic Plus menu, enter the bank code and select the account he wants to check. For security reasons, the subscriber is required to enter his PIN number. To use this facility, subscribers will be charged N40 each for each transaction except recharge for Glo Prepaid account, which is free. All transactions are charged on "a per request" bases.
Although some banks currently run SMS based mobile banking services, the present offering by Glo Mobile has many advantages over what is currently available. Glo M-Banking is not only menu driven, which makes it user friendly, it is more secure than any other before it. To enhance its security, the service is tied to phone number and PIN and ensures due to the end security on all transactions.
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