Malaysian telecomms firm Celcom has recruited German vendor paybox to develop a mobile banking and payments system that will allow customers of any bank in the country to access account information via their handsets.
Initially the service will enable mobile access to the Celcom-TuneMoney Prepaid VisaCard, allowing cardholders to check their balance and transaction history, recharge pre-paid airtime and transfer funds to other cardholders.
An expansion of the service to incorporate other partners and provide extended remittance, bill payments and merchant payments is planned for the future. Paybox says for a "minimal investment" banks can offer the service to their customers.
Paybox says many customers in Malaysia are failing to benefit from current mobile banking systems because they do not have Java capable phones, are reluctant to download application to handsets or are not familiar with how to use or access services.
Commenting on the move, Dato' Sri Shazalli Ramly, chief executive officer, Celcom, says: "This initiative will take us yet further in our strategy of transforming our offerings from meeting communications needs towards providing lifestyle solutions."
The paybox technology will be provided to Celcom through the German vendor's local partner IdotTV.