Samsung, Standard Bank team up for exclusive tablet app play

Samsung, Standard Bank and Microsoft have teamed up to give the bank’s customers the first option on the electronic giant’s new Windows 8 Ativ tablet.

It means that, for a while at least, Standard Bank will have a lead on the competition. Standard Bank launched its smartphone app suite earlier this year, lagging a few months behind First National Bank which was the first of the country’s banks to launch a smartphone app.

The ultra-slim Ativ tablets will also be available exclusively to Samsung customers for a limited time.

According to Standard Bank head of self-service and payments innovation Itumeleng Monale:

“Standard Bank customers will be among the first in the world to use Windows 8 on a portable ARM device. Standard Bank is also the first South African bank to give customers the choice to use its banking app on Windows 8 desktops, laptops and tablets.

“Our customers are becoming increasingly technologically savvy. Standard Bank is pleased to be offering them exclusive access to the latest technology,” she says.

Windows 8 is Microsoft’s first real attempt to leverage an entire ecosystem from mobile phones, through tablets and laptops to desktop computers on a single platform.

“Our partnership with Standard Bank is testimony to the sheer scale of the Windows ecosystem, and the reach it will provide to banking customers on this platform,” says Microsoft South Africa managing director Mteto Nyati.

“We expect to ship more than 2.5 million Windows devices in the next year, and its users will be looking to local apps like the Standard Bank banking app to bring their experiences to life.”

Samsung’s director of Mobile Communications at Samsung South Africa Craige Fleischer reckons the offering is just another way for Samsung to “bring the latest devices and operating systems to market”.

“We are proud to partner with Standard Bank and Microsoft through this offering and believe we are continuing to delivering exactly what our consumers expect of us — innovative, diverse technology solutions,” he says.

Standard Bank cheque and credit card holders can buy the 10.1 inch tablet (full specs here) for R6695, a fairly substantial discount from the usual price of R7999. They’ll also be able to pay 0% interest if they buy on their credit cards.

FNB customers have been able to buy smart devices at discounted prices for some time now, but it has yet to get a deal where it is the first to sell a device in the country.