Cingular Plans Mobile Banking
Reuters is reporting that much-maligned-on-this-website cell phone carrier Cingular will be launching cell-phone based banking software in 2007.
Cingular "said a wireless banking application it is testing would let customers of participating banks view account balances, transfer funds and pay bills on their cell phones.
Spokesman Mark Siegel said Cingular hoped to launch the application commercially in early 2007. Cingular was talking to a lot of banks, but he did not name any potential partners or disclose whether the company had any firm commitments.
"We hope a lot of banks participate," he said. "The early signs are very encouraging."
Would any of you use this? Is this a feature that you feel like you need? It's all part of a move by cell providers to push beyond talking (like with music and video downloads.) We've participated in a trial of Verizon's Vcast and while it was neato, we didn't really want to download music on our cell phone. Banking is more useful, but we have our doubts. Checking our account balance would be nice... as long as it's faster than the 18 hours it takes to check movie times on a phone.— MEGHANN MARCO
Cingular plans mobile banking service for 2007 [Reuters]
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Why don't they work on a better system for browsing the whole damn internet from your phone? Any bank worth anything already has a website where you can do all of this.
I also heard this morning that Cingular is integrating 25 XM radio channels into their phone service for free. Kind of a cool gimmick if you like XM (which I do). Unfortunately, I hate Cingular and switched to Verizon 6 months ago. No XM for Verizon, but much better reception, at least in Chicago.
Cingular's reception in Chicago is the worst thing ever. I moved to New York and now I never have a problem. Go figure.
I don't recommend moving from Chicago to New York for better phone coverage. Just switch carriers instead.
I do a lot of online banking (checking balances, billpay, etc.) through Wachovia's website.
I'm a Cingular customer, but if they had this service available, I wouldn't use it. The Wack-Off-i-a website is working fine for me, and I wouldn't want to take the time to learn how to use the cell for all this stuff, nor would I want to risk getting my bank accounts screwed up by Cingular, etc.
AcilletaM: I had no idea how bad it was until I moved and saw the difference. It was an abusive relationship, but it was all I knew. ::sniff, sniff::
Oh goody, I can't wait to sit in a public area and record people pushing buttons on their cellphones while banking. Since each key has a distinct tone, identity theft will become even easier than ever!
meghann -
Chicago didn't mean it, baby. We'd never hurt you on purpose. You know that, right?. It's just that we love you so much, sometimes it makes us a little crazy. We'll change, we swear! Please come back to us, baby.
When I was working in the Chicago Loop, I switched from Cingular because the reception was so bad. Now that I'm out in the 'burbs all the time, I've switched back because they were cheaper and work fine out here.
As for banking, I'd use it as long as it's not a pain in the ass like most cell phone apps are.
I wouldn't. First off, I'd want to be sure it's secure which I have doubts about. Second of all, if it runs as slowly as anything else that runs on cell phones there's no way I'd waste my time. Then again I don't believe in using a cell phone for anything other than speaking with my mouth to another person.
If it's fast and cheap, I'd LOVE it. Also, if it's totally secure and more-or-less anonymous. That is, if someone were to steal your phone, they could get nothing more than, say, your account balance and the NAME of your account, like an alias, but no secure numbers.
Most, if not all, banks these days have quick and easy online service to check your balance; see what checks have cleared and see what's pending. Two minutes max on your computer will give you this info. Why on earth would I want to check it on a miniscule cell phone?! To show off? See what I can do on my phone? (OK - I did this once years ago with my 1st pda - and yeah, people gawked - I got over it). It may be quaint, but I actually just want to make clear phone calls on my, uh, phone.
Cell phone banking..what a novel idea...but you know..I'd just as soon Cingular spend those gazillions of dollars researching why MY FUCKING CALLS WON'T STAY CONNECTED.
Cingular sucks. I'll never use them again for anything.
You know, with all the concern about ID theft and customer data on laptops being stolen, you'd think they'd come up with something better than making sure everyone on the damn bus knows your PIN. This won't end well.