NCB to launch mobile banking services
National Commercial Bank (NCB) will this week launch mobile banking services to customers, Sunday Finance has learnt.
According to reliable sources, the firm will unveil NCB Mobile Banking, which will allow customers to excecute account transactions from their mobile phones via the Internet. Persons will be able to check account balances, review account details, make transfer between accounts and pay bills with the new service. Access will extend to most of the accounts that can be access in NCB Internet Banking, including current accounts, savings and credit cards said the source.
With the launch, NCB will become the latest financial institution to set up mobile banking, following closely on the heels of FirstCaribbean International’s unvieling of its own mobile banking platform in April.
An Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report two years ago listed several factors which favour mobile banking in Jamaica. Among them were high cellular penetration; sophisticated banking sector with microfinancing experience; the fact that high crime rates in certain areas make cash transactions risky; limited access to financial services among the poor; large informal sector without formal access to financial services; substantial remittances from abroad and from urban to rural areas and an Approved Electronic Transactions Act that provides basic framework for mobile banking.
