Bank Islam Unveils Malaysia's First Mobile Banking Without Internet Access

Works on all mobile phones and with all major telco providers KUALA LUMPUR, Wednesday, [20 October 2010] - Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (Bank Islam) scores another first today, offering consumers Malaysia’s first truly mobile banking service. With Transact at Palm or TAP Mobile Banking-i, account owners can perform banking transactions anywhere and anytime, without internet access. It’s unique ability to work without internet access, its compatibility with all mobile phones, via all major telecommunication providers and the dual authentication security that differentiates TAP Mobile Banking-i from its competitors. Y.Bhg. Dato’ Sri Zukri Samat, Managing Director of Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad who launched the TAP Mobile Banking-i today, said: “This product is an innovation by Bank Islam’s team to specially meet the lifestyle needs of today. It is truly banking on the move!” He said to activate TAP Mobile Banking-i customers need only two items. The first is a special chip co-developed by the Bank, which needs to be affixed to the SIM card of the phone. Secondly, customers are required to have either a Current or a Savings Account with Bank Islam. Once affixed, customers can proceed to perform banking transactions, which under the initial phase will cover bill payments, prepaid airtime reload, interbank GIRO, intrabank (fund transfers), balance inquiries and sms alerts. He said: “We are proud to be the first bank in Malaysia to offer our customers a mobile banking service, without an internet requirement. It provides our customers the convenience of managing accounts while actively on the move.  Customers can save time and effort and ultimately ringgit and sen.” “This innovation also reflects the bank’s strategy of staying at the forefront of business and technical innovation to benefit our customers. In a year, we target to acquire a minimum of 100,000 users to subscribe to our TAP Mobile Banking-i.,” he added. According to Dato’ Sri Zukri, the launch of TAP Mobile Banking-i heralds the Bank's  strategy to move towards branchless banking; where customers will use the mobile phone as a banking channel and payment device. “This is a very cost-effective distribution channel to improve accessibility to financial services to the unbanked and underserved segment of the population,” he added. TAP Mobile Banking-i is made possible by the use of a chip which contains a menu of customised banking applications to enable the customer to perform transactions without having to download any applications or be linked to the internet.  It is a plug and play banking approach. In terms of security, TAP Mobile Banking-i is secured by a 2-level authentication (PIN and password). Bank Islam’s charge is minimal and affordable for on demand transactions and information. They range from RM0.20 for an SMS Alert to RM2.00 for Interbank GIRO. The list of charges for other transactions is as per Appendix 1. Bank Islam sees great potential in mobile banking services, as they leverage on current technology; and these services are expected to evolve and transform in tandem with increases in functionality and application capabilities of mobile phone technology. Articles from Bank Islam