Absa has officially launched its smartphone banking app, making it the last of South Africa’s major banks with such an offering.
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The app, which is available on Android and iOS, includes a number of traditional online banking features, as well as a GPS-based ATM locator and branch locator and the ability to send airtime or cash to people using the phone’s contacts. One feature that it didn’t really go into much depth on was the image library. We can’t find anything from Absa’s official channels explaining why it might be useful either.
Absa claims that the app’s launch means that its customers “can enjoy the speed and convenience of simple, intuitive payments and effortless navigation with fewer clicks to perform their banking transactions”.
The banking giant also claims the app is the “first real, native financial services app for smartphones and tablets in South Africa available for both retail and business customers”.
“This means our app is optimised for smartphone and tablet screens and encompasses a visually rich interface,” says Arrie Rautenbach, Absa Head of Retail Banking.
The app provides access to a built-in video tutorial that is meant to assist customers on a “journey of learning”. It is available for both individual and business customers and will permit multiple users in one household the ability to link into single device or to have one user connect their profile to multiple devices.
According to Rautenbach, “the app gives users of smartphones and tablet devices easy access to their accounts in those ‘in-between’ moments when they have a moment before their train arrives or just before the ad breaks.”
Absa’s smartphone banking app comes 18 months after FNB became the first major bank in the country to launch an app. Standard Bank and Nedbank meanwhile launched theirs within a couple of days of each other in mid 2012.
Absa’s app is also expected to arrive on BlackBerry in the next few weeks.
