DBS Bank Launches New Wireless Banking Service

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End-to-End Security Offered Is Currently The Most Secured Form of Data Transmission In Market

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Launch In Line With DBS Vision To Bring Customers Anytime, Anywhere Access To Banking Services

SINGAPORE, DEC 12 - DBS Bank today launched its new wireless banking service, a mobile internet service based on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), which allows users of mobile phones or other wireless devices to carry out banking transactions and access financial news and information.

DBS will be offering end-to-end security for wireless banking using the strongest ciphers available in the industry, such as the Wireless Transport Layer Security protocol (WTLS) and other proprietary encryption protocols. The end-to-end encryption uses a 128-bit key strength, which is the strongest in the market currently.

DBS said the introduction of the new wireless banking service is in line with its objective to deliver its financial products, services and tools in a way that provides customers a choice between face-to-face and remote banking, thereby bringing its customers anytime, anywhere access to banking services.

"DBS Wireless Banking is an additional delivery channel that we are opening up for our customers. As an extension to our existing online and mobile banking services, we hope to give our customers total mobility, control and banking convenience which in turn enable them to be in charge of their finances 24 hours a day" said Mr Bastari Irwan, Managing Director, E-Business Group, DBS Bank.

According to the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), the mobile phone penetration in Singapore currently is 66.3 per cent - a total of 2.1 million mobile subscribers. The opportunities afforded by WAP banking are therefore considerable.

"For DBS, implementing WAP is a way to learn and get ready for the next stage of wireless implementation," Irwan said.

"The move is in line with the bank's commitment to continually look towards adoption of the latest technology to enhance our customer service," Irwan said.

"We see tremendous opportunities in banking and commercial services using mobile devices, evident from the high mobile phone penetration rate in Singapore and Asia. We will continue to invest and capitalise on technologies on the horizon to prepare ourselves for the evolving developments and to deliver personalised and customised services to our customers," Irwan said.

DBS Wireless Banking is launched in partnership with Oracle, Nokia and Sun Microsystems. It will be introduced in phases. Phase One will allow customers to check their account balances, make enquiry on their outstanding loans and credit card transactions, initiate first party funds transfer and search for DBS/POSB branches and ATMs locations.

In addition, customers can also access online information such as rate for foreign currency exchange, unit trusts, Singapore dollar deposits and loans, as well as the latest financial news via DBS Wireless Banking through their phone or Palm.

Subsequent phases will introduce additional services such as electronic share application, share trading, e-mail function and location-based search features for branches and ATMs. There will also be alert features for loan application approval, initial public offering allotment results and fixed deposit maturity dates on WAP-enabled devices.

DBS Bank is the flagship bank of DBS Group Holdings in Singapore. It is ranked among the top banks in Asia, the 70th largest in the world, a recognised leader in Internet banking and e-commerce and the market leader in Singapore-dollar loans and deposits, and equity fund raising. Beyond Singapore, DBS Group serves corporate, institutional and retail customers through subsidiaries in Hong Kong, The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, and international banking services through a network of 13 overseas branches and offices.