Now, if we can just turn it into an ATM
Look deeply into your cellphone’s screen and you will discover … a bank.
That’s right, banking services have migrated to cellphones, with AT&T recently announcing it has launched wireless banking for two big banking institutions, Wachovia Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc.
So, what banking services can you access from your wireless phone?
In a news release about what it calls “mobile banking,” AT&T said consumers can view account balances and history, transfer funds and pay bills from their handsets. No extra fees, unless you count the data fees charged for completing a transaction.
But who’s counting? AT&T recommends subscribers buy a data package (mimimum $9.99 per month).
In anticipation of a growing demand to bank-from-phone, AT&T said it will pre-load banking applications in its handsets later this year.
Earlier this year, BancorpSouth became the first bank in the United States to go live with mobile banking on AT&T handsets. FirstBank of Lakewood, Colo., also is offering mobile banking on AT&T’s netowrk, as is Synovus, a 37-bank network in the Southeast.
So far, no Oklahoma-based banks have signed on to the high-tech banking services. An AT&T spokesman said the phone company anticipates a mobile banking launch in the near future from Arvest, which is headquartered in Arkansas but has a lot of Oklahoma locations.
I’m not sure how mobile banking compares with, oh, say mobile blogging or even mobile e-mail services, but it’s more evidence that the lines are blurring between cellphones and computers.
Jim Stafford
Business Writer
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