Barclays Bank (UK) Launches New Banking Services

Barclays has launched ‘Hello Money', a service that it claims breaks away from the traditional methods of m-banking and takes consumer banking services to the next level of convenience. For the first time in India, customers can now carry their bank in their mobile, accessing banking services anytime/anywhere on the move.

Barclays customers can now perform account enquiries and financial transactions by simply dialling *598*1#. They can carry out secure banking transactions like fund transfers, bill payments, requests and other banking services without visiting a branch or ATMs. Upon dialling *598*1#, customers will be guided to the mobile-based menu where they will be able to choose from a number of options and, after they enter the correct Hello Money PIN, they can immediately perform their required transaction on their handsets.

“Barclays Hello Money is about anytime/anywhere access to Barclays for its customers. This service is unique as it has a vast potential with appeal across all segments, taking banking to the unbanked population of over 184m people in the country,” says Samir Bhatia, MD, India and Indian Ocean, Barclays Global Retail & Commercial Banking (GRCB). “It is for the first time that banking services are available in such a convenient and cost effective manner, turning a GSM mobile handset into a bank for its user. Barclays has always taken pride in introducing innovative propositions like this. I am happy to say, Barclays is pioneering for others to follow.”

The service is available on all GSM handsets on the network of Airtel, Vodafone and Idea in 40 cities across the country for a nominal monthly cost of Rs 30 ($0.75). Customers can currently choose between Hindi and English, but Barclays aims to include more languages and extend it to CDMA handsets too.

Existing m-banking propositions in the market involve several steps such as application downloads, remembering SMS codes, and all sorts of numbers and formats that make it inconvenient to use, says a Barclays statement. Also, the costs for using the services are high as customers are charged for SMS or GPRS subscription every time they use the service. This has posed several hurdles in early adoption of m-banking and spread of banking services across geographies.

Ahmed Khizer Khan, CEO, emerging markets, Barclays GRCB adds: “Barclays has a successful track record in offering various models of mobile banking services in some areas around the globe. Mobile banking is proving to be a groundbreaking initiative which has already started to show great results. Easy access to banking has positive transformational effects as it opens up the financial system to formerly excluded segments of the population.

“This is the kind of change we aim to create in all emerging markets where financial inclusion is at the heart of our business strategy. It gives me pride that India is again leading the path of reinventing banking through harnessing technology and innovative thinking.”