Barclays offers digital banking solutions |03 July 2014

Barclays customers can now perform any financial transactions from the comfort of their home or from anywhere without having the hassle of calling at the bank itself.
This is thanks to a range of digital services that the bank has launched.

This revolutionary digital banking was officially launched on Tuesday at the Barclays Bank boardroom at the Capital City by its managing director Rakesh Jha in the presence of other high officials of the bank related to the project.

The digital services available are:
Online banking – Once a client has registered for online banking, there will very little need for them to visit the bank’s branches except for counter cash transactions and application for additional accounts, loans and other services.

Furthermore, with the bill payment feature, a client can pay all their bills with registered service providers (PUC, Intelvision, Airtel and Cable & Wireless) online, whenever they want and wherever they may be.

Mobile and tablet banking – With the free Barclays mobile and tablet banking app installed on your iPad, iPhone or Android smartphone or tablet, you can easily check your balances and transactions, do your transfers and pay your bills.  You can bank anytime and anywhere that is convenient to you. To make use of the app you need to be registered for online banking.  The app can be downloaded from Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store.

SMS Alerts – The SMS Alerts service will send an SMS message to the mobile phone number that you have registered with Barclays each time a requested transaction is passed on your account. It is a very convenient way of keeping track of your finances, allowing you to stay updated and in control of the transactions on your account. Among other things, the service can alert you when your salary is credited to your account. You may activate SMS Alerts on any current or savings account. Online banking subscribers can easily do this online, by navigating to Alerts under the Customer Service menu.

eStatements - Thanks to the eStatements service, you will no longer need to wait for your paper statements to arrive through the post to reconcile your accounts. As your statements will be in electronic format, you may save them on your PC and print them only when required. Not only is this option more environmentally friendly, it is also a more convenient way to keep track of your finances, permitting you to have access to your financial information at the touch of your fingertips.

Barclays Integrator - Barclays Integrator (BI) is the online banking platform for business customers. It is available 24/7, secure and designed to make the life of the bank’s business customers so much easier.  Transactions done through BI are cheaper and instantaneous in relation to written banking instructions. Bulk payment for salary processing was recently added to BI permitting business customers to easily and quickly pay their employees.

Online tax payments –Since Sunday, June 1, 2014, business customers have been able pay their tax dues to the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) via BI, thanks to a partnership between Barclays, the SRC and the Department of Information, Communication and Technology. This makes Barclays the first Bank able to offer its customers the ability to make their tax payments online.

Online card acceptance – Through another first for Seychelles, Barclays is offering its card acquiring merchants the facility to accept card payments via their website through an online card payment processing gateway solution through a partnership with Visa CyberSource.  Through the payment gateway, merchants are able to accept cards branded Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and American Express.  The first merchant in Seychelles to launch a website powered by the Barclays online payment gateway was Cable & Wireless (Seychelles) Limited with its eShop.
A demonstration of these facilities on tablet was given by Philippa de Charmoy, the bank’s product manager.

Selby Remy, head of Cash & Trade at Barclays Bank said since the bank launched the online tax payments service -- which he claimed is very fast, quick and cheap -- 50,000 transactions have gone through the bank’s system per month.

Pamela Charlette, acting offshore director of Barclays Bank who mainly handle overseas businessmen who travel a lot, said these customers can now view their account, have their statements just to name some of the online banking services they can do.

Giving a brief history of the bank’s digital technology advancement, Mr Jha noted that Barclays was the first bank to launch a full-fledged internet banking in 2012.

Now in 2014 the bank has taken its innovation drive to another level by launching what it calls Barclays Mobile Banking with an application which customers can download on their mobile phones.

It has also launched Barclays Tablet Banking which allows customers to use the same internet banking facility which was confined to their home or office, from practically anywhere now if they have their tablet with them.

“Retail banking is evolving fast all around the world. Banks need to be able to adapt and innovate quickly in order to give customers differentiated propositions and we, at Barclays, have decided to be ahead of the curve,” said Mr Jha.

“Consumers are looking for more convenient services from their banks that fit around their lifestyles - moving from person-to-person channels such as branches, to anytime and anywhere digital solutions. We have decided to harness the technological innovations available to offer a safe new range of products and services that are truly revolutionary in Seychelles. Our aim is not only to be the best possible financial partner today, but to be the bank of the future for Seychelles. It is only through innovation that we will be able to assist our customers in maximising the value of their account,” he added.