With the news launch of Apple iWatch being launched later this month, companies are already queuing up to be ready for the product. The first among the fray is HDFC Bank, India’s second largest private sector bank.
By being the first to enter “watch banking”, the bank has definitely raised the bar for other financial institutions, who will now have to play catch up.
HDFC Bank’s app will become the first mobile banking app to be available on iWatch by an Indian bank. Globally, however, the bank is probably the fourth lender to have devised such an app.
Nitin Chugh, head of digital banking at HDFC Bank, said “We started developing the app when Apple Watch released the developers’ kit. Now, we are ready for the ‘i-watch’. We will offer 8-10 features commonly available on the mobile banking app”.
The mobile banking app of HDFC has about 75 features. Of these, the bank will introduce the commonly used features in its iWatch app, such as balance enquiry, re-charge of pre-paid mobile phones, cheque book request, account statement and payment of utility bills.
Chugh also added “mobile is completely outpacing internet banking, after mobile apps became popular in the last two-and-a-half years and more and more smartphones started rolling out. As a percentage, mobile banking is growing at a much faster pace".
According to the information available on RBI’s site, transactions made via mobile banking for Top 4 banks in January 2015 were:
- HDFC Bank – Rs 4906 crore
- ICICI Bank – Rs 2225 crore
- State Bank of India – Rs 1586 crore
- AXIS Bank– Rs 1440 crore