Nationwide Building Society is mounting a campaign to win over customers to its WAP banking service following the decisions by Halifax and Abbey National to hang up on users later this month.
Both Halifax and Abbey National last week announced plans to ditch their WAP banking systems in the face of continued low user uptake. Other UK banks to have pulled out of the market for WAP banking include Barclays, Egg, Intelligent Finance and NatWest.
By contrast, Nationwide claims to be winning over 40 new uses every day to its WAP banking service and reports high satisfaction rates. The Society claimed to have picked up 10,000 users within five months of launch in September 2001.
Nationwide’s WAP service enables customers with a current account and a supported mobile phone: to view account balances and their last 12 transactions; to transfer money between Nationwide accounts; to view and make bill payments; and to order a new or replacement PIN number.
Jim Willens, retail operations director, says: "Nationwide prides itself on offering customers a choice of access channels. The continued rise in the number of customers using online banking, proves to us that customers want choice."