This week the Royal Bank of Scotland Group announced that it has launched a new mobile phone banking service, and RBS and NatWest customers will be able to user their handsets to keep track of their accounts from anywhere they have a signal. The service is being provided by MONILINK, which is a joint venture between VocaLINK and Monitise plc. Customers can sign up for the service, which will allow them to view account balances and get mini-statements via a WAP browser.
RBS plans to add additional services including mobile payments and account transfers. For now users can also top up any mobile pre-pay phone and receive SMS balance alerts. This service is being made secure as the data is never actually on the handset, and rather is just a display of the information. Using the service and software is free, and there are no monthly or annual fees, although regular data charges may occur with some operators.