M2 PRESSWIRE-18 March 1999-SCHLUMBERGER: VIAG Interkom demonstrates mobile banking service at CeBIT 99 (C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
Mobile phone users will soon be able to carry out banking transactions on the move. A consortium of the direct banking service provider 1822direkt, Schlumberger, software developer Brokat and VIAG Interkom will demonstrate a new mobile banking pilot project at CeBIT 99. The pilot is the result of five months' work on applying the GSM short message service (SMS) protocol to bank transactions, and the first implementation in Germany of continuous (end-to-end) encoding. A high level of transaction security is ensured by the additional use of PIN/TAN (transaction number) data.
Mobile banking builds on telephone banking and on-line banking to open up a new, easy-to-use service channel, requiring only a mobile phone and a personal bank account. With mobile banking, queues and closed counters are a thing of the past! Bank transactions can be carried out at any time, quickly and easily, from anywhere at home or abroad using a mobile phone over VIAG Interkom's mobile phone network, E2. Using the simple menu-driven handset display, users can for example initiate transfers and request details such as an account balance or stock exchange prices.
The scope of the pilot can be expanded in the future to support additional applications. For example, it is possible to envisage integrated services such as mobile brokerage for buying and selling securities, replenishing electronic purses, and building other information services around banking transactions.
Electronic banking is enjoying growing popularity in Germany. 1822direkt, a subsidiary of the savings bank, Frankfurter Sparkasse, already carries out over 70% of transfers on-line. For this pilot project the scope of the on-line banking server was extended by access to VIAG Interkom's E2 mobile phone network.
Schlumberger supplied a Java-based SIM card (Cyberflex Simera) for the pilot project, to guarantee the security of mobile banking transactions. The company also provided a server platform (Aremis) which ensures local independent administration and a reliable continuous data flow over the VIAG Interkom network.
The pilot uses Brokat's Twister E-service platform, already employed by 1822direkt for its customers. The link with additional SMS Gateways enables the flow of secure and efficient transactions over the mobile network.
The four partners will demonstrate this ground-breaking pilot project for the first time at CeBIT99. After testing is complete, it is planned to include the mobile banking services as part of VIAG Interkom's E2 tariff.
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