Background
permanent tsb is the retail banking division of Irish Life & Permanent plc formed by the merger of Irish Permanent and Irish Life in April 1999. This merger brought together Ireland's largest home loans provider and the country's largest life insurance company.
In 2007, permanent tsb decided to extend the facilities available to customers by providing a mobile banking service. As part of this service, customers would be able to top-up their mobile phones, carry out banking transactions and provide emergency cash payments via ATM to family and friends.
Enabling technology
permanent tsb uses the Macalla Platform which connects to participating mobile operators Vodafone and O2 for mobile top-up, and Vodafone, O2, Meteor, 3 and Tesco Mobile for mobile banking.
Results
Mobile banking
ptsb’s Text Banking service was launched in July 2008. Registered customers can conduct the following banking activities using their mobile phone:
- Bill payment
- Inter account transfer
- Balance enquiry
- Mobile top-up (own and friends/family)
- Mini statement
- Text alerts (lodgement, withdrawal, balance within specified level)
Mobile top-up
Mobile top-up went live in December 2007. Irish customers register via the internet or by phoning a permanent tsb Customer Service Advisor (CSA). O2 and Vodafone customers can then topup via the internet or CSA. They can also top-up a pre-registered "buddy’s" mobile phone. Payment is debited from the customer’s permanent tsb account.
Emergency Cash
The service launched in January 09 and is available to all Text Banking customers. It can be used, for example, in case of loss or theft of an ATM card or to send money quickly to friends and family in Ireland.
The customer simply sends an SMS to ptsb nominating anyone in Ireland with a mobile phone to receive the emergency payment. That person can then go to any ptsb ATM and withdraw cash – without the need for an ATM card.
The Emergency Cash payment amount is set at €100 and registered customers can request payment 5 times per month to a maximum of €500 (€100 per withdrawal). There is a €2 charge to the account holder per withdrawal.
