first direct launches iPhone App for mobile banking
first direct (firstdirect.com), the Online and 24-hour telephone bank, claims to have become the first UK bank to launch a true transactional, Banking ‘on the go’ App for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch.
The App, launched on 13 January 2011 on the Apple App Store, allows first direct customers to check balances, view the last 20 account transactions, make payments and transfer money between accounts. It is this transactional capability that, according to firstdirect, differentiates it from other applications launched in the UK, making it the first true UK Banking ‘on the go’ App.
Some US banks have already tapped into the country’s more developed iPhone App market (the Bank of America was the first to launch an App in July 2008), but first direct aims to stay ahead of the curve in the UK, with plans for the next generation of mobile banking applications already afoot. In a post on ‘talking point’, first direct’s customer forum, the bank, which has received critical acclaim for its engagement with customers through social media, plans to collect online feedback in order to understand which new features are most in demand.
