NIC Bank updates customers on traffic flow with new app

Leaving the office at the end of the day and want to know the status of traffic? A new mobile application by NIC Bank now allows its customers to access traffic cameras.

The mid-sized bank has launched a new banking app, dubbed NIC NOW, which enables customers to access their bank accounts at the palm of their hands as well as offer services beyond the typical banking solutions.

The bank has taken advantage of the growth of smartphones in the market by going fully digital with the new feature for its clients.

The move by NIC is expected to create a new battleground on which banks are increasingly looking to win customers with value added services, leading to convenience. Currently, most banks offer Internet and mobile banking.

In a recent communication to its customers NIC said that the new application was available to all its customers who were registered for mobile banking and offered more services compared to the USSD platform.

The app is an opportunity for NIC to converge different solutions, both banking and lifestyle, for its customers and in a convenient manner by tapping into the growing use of the mobile phone for day-to-day transactions.

“The phenomenal surge in mobile phone has created a whole new customer channel,” said NIC managing director John Gachora.

“Mobile transactions have grown rapidly in the last five years. It is necessary that banks develop innovative solutions to take advantage of emerging mobile technology.”
He said the adoption of the technology is part of the banks “innovation and new media strategy”.

“The concept of convenience banking has shifted from the physical branches to the mobile device, which is now an integral part of our lives,” said Mr Gachora.
The app is powered by software company Craft Silicon.

Craft Silicon chief executive Kamal Budhabhatti said that his company was also working with “about 16 banks” to develop mobile banking apps, adding that “NIC Now is a unique version”.

The chief executive attributed its uniqueness to the additional features it offers its customers including using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which leads to “enormous possibilities” including payment of services as they are introduced in the market.

“NFC is wireless technology that doesn’t require contact to connect objects. With the ability to transact payments, NFC technology can be used for other connections as well.”

Other banks are expected to launch their apps in the near future. Standard Chartered is already working on an app that will offer its customers more than what is available on the current mobile banking platform.

“The app, Breeze, is currently under development and would further enhance user experience over and above accessing your account for transaction,” said Standard Chartered head of proximity and remote banking, Edward Ndichu.

The mobile banking app by the NIC is one of the products the bank has been working on after investing $8.6 million (Sh731 million) in a banking system to facilitate rolling out new products. The investment, late last year, was to expand Internet and branchless banking as well as facilitate new products for mobile phones.

Last year, the bank moved to the T24 ICT platform joining banks such as KCB and CfC Stanbic and the Central Bank which have implemented the system seen as more effective than previous banking technologies.

NIC NOW allows its customers to conduct all the transactions available in mobile banking including checking bank balance, topping up airtime across all networks and M-Pesa mobile money transfers, forex rates, request for cheque books among other banking features.

Customers will also be able to pay bills such as water, DStv and power.

The app also introduces new features which customers can enjoy in what the bank is calling mobile lifestyle, this includes access to traffic cameras, news updates, cinema guides and even religious readings — both the Bible and the Quran.

The app has received favourable reviews from customers who have downloaded it, with a few teething problems such as compatibility and connection raised by some of the users.

In markets where banking apps have gained popularity they are working at differentiation, making them a big battleground on which banks are increasingly winning and losing customers.

Banks have introduced features such as allowing their app users to make calls to other users free or charge, others allow for online share trading and graphic illustrations of a customer’s available balances across accounts.

However, not all customers are comfortable using the apps.

Research conducted in the United States shows that customers who are reluctant to use a banking app either have security fears or see no need for it — they say their banking needs are met by Internet banking.

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