On-demand text banking steps closer in 200 countries with new partnership

Details: Category: Mobile Finance; 26 June 2008; 8489 views

S1 Enterprise Corporation, a provider of software for financial and payment services and Clickatell have announced a partnership to provide an on-demand text-based banking service which will be available to companies in more than 200 countries...

S1 Enterprise customers will be able to use the on-demand capabilities of SMS banking and payments services, including account balance enquiries, funds transfers, account alerts and person-to-person (P2P) payments. The two-way SMS service enables users to manage their finances proactively and monitor potential fraud via their mobile phones. Clickatell's global messaging gateway delivers transactions and alerts to and from cell phones over 700 networks in more than 200 countries.

According to banking analyst Red Gillen text messaging is a primary driver for mobile banking given the familiarity with SMS, high cell phone penetration, and ease of implementation. SMS allows banks to locate customers easily so they can manage account balances, move money between accounts and detect fraud. "As banks continue to roll out mobile strategies, SMS should be a priority, given its relatively fast implementation timeline and usefulness to consumers."

S1 Enterprise currently provides software to more than 100 banks servicing three million consumer, small business and corporate users worldwide and enabling them to access and manage their financial information. S1's Postilion subsidiary provides integrated solutions for self-service banking and payment processing, including advanced transactions such as prepay, through Internet access points, ATMs, POS terminals, and phones. More than 100,000 ATMs and 500,000 POS terminals worldwide run on Postilion solutions.

Clickatell specialises in bulk messaging services and SMS gateway connectivity for small, medium and large enterprises. Clickatell enables organisations to deliver messages to any device anywhere in the world.