22nd Dec 2008 09:00
22nd December 2008
NATWEST BECOMES FIRST UK BANK TO LAUNCH INTERNATIONAL MONEY TRANSFERS VIA MOBILE PHONE
Monitise plc (LSE: MONI.L), the mobile money people, welcomes the news that NatWest today announced that it is making it even easier for its Polish Welcome Account customers to send money home to spend over the Christmas period.
The introduction of commission-free international mobile phone payment transfers between customers' current accounts in the UK and their PKO BP accounts in Poland is a first for a UK Bank. This means that Welcome Account customers can now benefit from money transfers with the added convenience of making them from their mobile phone.
Although the service will initially only be for NatWest Welcome Account customers, NatWest expects to extend the service to other countries, allowing NatWest customers to transfer money back to their home country whenever and wherever they wish.
To make a money transfer, customers simply use the NatWest Mobile Phone Banking service on their mobile phone. Customers can sign up for the service using a secure website and the international money transfer service is automatically available once the customer has completed the enrolment and security process.
Roy Vella, Group Director of Mobile comments: "Mobile phone banking is the fastest growing banking channel in the world, and NatWest is committed to being at the forefront of this exciting phenomenon.
Our research shows that the Polish community in the UK sends home a staggering £1 billion each year. We recognise that our customers want to move this money as cost effectively, securely and conveniently as possible, and often when they are on the move. With this in mind, we think they will really benefit from this innovative new service, especially at a time when they will want to access their finances back home at Christmas.
Whilst this service will initially only be available to our NatWest Welcome Account customers, we will be looking to develop the mobile phone payment service for our other customers in due course."
The service is provided in association with Monilink, the mobile money people that provide mobile banking services to customers in partnership with NatWest.
John Milliken, managing director of Monilink added: "The mobile phone is the ideal way to control personal transactions such as money transfers to friends and family overseas. By being the first to bring this level of control to their Polish customers, NatWest has once again demonstrated its commitment to providing customers with even more control over their money, wherever and whenever they require."
Ends
Notes to Editors:
NatWest successfully launched the Welcome Account in January 2007, and it remains the only dedicated Polish account on the market, and the only one to offer all facilities, including internet and telephone banking in the Polish language
As the result of a partnership with Poland's leading retail bank, PKO BP (signed in July 2007), NatWest Welcome Account customers can now transfer money free of charge between their Welcome Account in the UK and their PKO BP Accounts in Poland
Customers are currently able to transfer funds between their NatWest Welcome Account and their PKO BP account via telephone and through mobile phone banking
Monilink provides the mobile banking service for The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest. The company is a joint venture between Monitise plc [MONI.L] and VocaLink. www.monilink.co.uk
Enquiries
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Contacts: |
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Monitise Group |
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Ben Evetts, Head of Communications |
Tel: 020 7868 5200 |
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Tom Spurgeon, Chief Financial Officer |
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Financial Dynamics |
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Juliet Clarke |
Tel: 020 7831 3113 |
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Haya Chelhot |
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Erwan Gouraud |
About Monitise plc
Monitise plc (MONI.L), the mobile money people, has created the world's first mobile banking networks, which allow customers of multiple banks and mobile operators to perform banking and payment transactions directly from their mobile handset.
With live services in the UK and the USA, where it has delivered the MONILINK and Monitise networks in partnership with VocaLink and Metavante Corporation respectively, the Company is currently working with international partners to deliver similar safe, secure mobile banking & payment services in territories worldwide.
Current key partners include VocaLink, Metavante, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, first direct, Alliance & Leicester, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Vodafone, Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Hutchison 3G.
www.monitisegroup.com
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