Leading mobile payments provider, Mobibucks, has launched MobiBanker, the industry’s first smart mobile banking app that works with any mobile phone including Android, Blackberry and Nokia, in Bahrain.

Jorge Fernandes, CEO, Mobibucks, said: “I am pleased to launch today in the Bahraini market MobiBanker which has all the usual mobile banking capabilities, such as viewing account balances, history and transactions, transferring funds and paying bills. But the app goes further with real-time account alert push notifications and transactional analytics and is the only app with the ability to serve as a virtual card at the POS.”

The new smart app is based on the company’s patent-pending technology platform that enables mobile payments on essentially every phone using phone number and PIN. The platform provides an all-in-one mobile payments and marketing solution for banks and financial institutions, a statement from the company said.

MobiBanker integrates with financial institutions existing applications as a new vertical. It is customisable to an institution’s brand and can include an array of feature sets. Many of the features of the new smart app are also available in the company’s current text messaging app.

Ziad Al Shobaki, managing director, Emerging Markets, Mobibucks, said: “The perks and services that attracted members decades ago – from fee-free checking to free toasters – will not appeal to today’s mobile users who want the convenience of 24/7 virtual banking. Today’s techno-savvy, on-the-go customers rarely visit a branch in person. They rely on convenient, virtual tools that can be accessed anytime, anywhere. The time has come for all financial institutions - whether large or small - to go mobile.”

The new smart app includes the full suite of mobile banking features including viewing accounts and checking balances, money transfers, payment of bills and pay people, which enables sending money to existing contacts.

In addition to these standard features, MobiBanker includes real-time “alerts” that lets customers easily and securely manage their finances better and act on information. Alerts can be set up to show the daily balance and notify customers of low balances, checks cleared, and when thresholds on withdrawals and deposits are exceeded, the statement said.

This also allows banks to create in-the-moment sales opportunities by notifying customers of important account activity, and introducing new or enhanced bank service opportunities at the moment of need.

With the “transactional analytics” feature, banks and financial institutions will be able to deepen its understanding of customers and provide opportunities to increase customer loyalty and retention.

The “virtual card” capability makes it possible for customers to not only do banking, but also conduct commerce from their mobile phone, the statement said.

Customers can create a “virtual card” through their bank account and use it to purchase goods at a merchant POS. Utilising virtual technology which connects to the POS, the “card” enables users to pay with their phone number and pin.

Another feature for “people on the go” is its helpful “find ATM/branch” feature that uses geo-location capabilities to find the nearest bank.

It also integrates with social media applications, allowing users to find out what savers have to say with one touch access to the bank’s social media networks, including Twitter and Facebook, it said. – TradeArabia News Service