Baking industry has witnessed a paradigm shift in electronic and mobile banking over the last few years. With each passing day, there is a new technological advancement coming in. Carrying forward the legacy of introducing smart technology for the ease of customers, the State Bank of India (SBI) has launched ‘SBI Wear’ which enables State Bank Anywhere for smart devices banking on Android and iOS based smartwatches.
SBI Wear offers accounts balance and mini statements facility now. It will be offering all transactional alerts and notifications, intuitive interface for instant mobile top-up, bill payments and fund transfers, capturing drop on floor requests – Cheque Book request etc in next releases over 30-60 days.
According to Shiv Kumar Bhasin, Chief Technology Officer of SBI, now you can even do banking transactions on your smartwatch. Banks may have just got to grips with online and mobile banking, but advances in wearable technology provide a glimpse of customer interaction in future for GenY customers. As high street lenders increase their reliance on digital services, smartwatches could offer quicker and easier ways to check account balances, pay bills, request drop on floor services – cheque book requests or provide alerts and loyalty rewards, just a touch away.
To begin banking on smartwatches, customers simply have to tap on the app icon, enter their PIN and complete their banking tasks.
“Not everyone wants to go to the branch/ATM, OR log on to Internet/Mobile banking. Some people will want to get a quick statement or balance on their smartwatch, and many people want to pay for things on their watch. On a mobile you can easily sit down and review your account or spending on the bus – with a smartwatch it is really on the go, something that is instantaneous,” he says.
Analysts are of the view that the growth potential is immense and smartwatch banking can emerge as a category in itself. By 2016, smartwatches will comprise about 40 per cent of consumer wrist-worn devices, according to a 17 September 2014, report by research firm Gartner Inc. released after the Apple Watch was unveiled.
