1. Mobile Apps in
Peoples Bank in Sri
Lanka
By Siyath, Lionel, Sujeewa and Kamani
September 2013
1

2. Provisional Draft only – not for circulation
Application of Mobile Apps in Peoples Bank in Sri Lanka
1. Aim and Objective of the assignment
Our aim of this assignment is to state how best we can apply selected mobile applications with
special reference to “Peoples Bank”.
2. Definition of Mobile Applications
“A wireless mobile application is defined as a software application, a wireless service or a
mobile service that can be either pushed to users‟ handheld wireless devices or downloaded
and installed, over the air, on these devices.”
An application which resides in the mobile phone or which is accessed/used by a mobile phone
over any channel such as SMS, MMS, GPRS, Voice, 3G (Gunawardena , 2013).
3. Mobile Applications: An Overview
Mobile application is a set of software/set of programs that runs on a mobile device and
performs certain tasks for the user. Mobile application is a new and fast developing Segment of
the global Information and Communication Technology.
Mobile application is easy, user friendly, inexpensive, downloadable and run able in most of the
mobile phone including inexpensive and entry level phone. The main feature of this cell phone
was it had a fantastic platform which allowed running very dynamic application based on
internet. The mobile application has wide uses for its vast functioning area like calling,
messaging, browsing, chatting, social network communication, audio, video, game etc.
In large number of mobile application some are pre-installed in phone and others user can
download from internet and install it in mobile phone. This large number of mobile application
market served by increasing no of mobile application developer, publishers and providers. From
the technical point of view the different mobile applications are run able in different managed
platforms like iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Symbian, windows; also some virtual machine such
as Java/J2ME, BREW, Flash Light, Silverlight.
3.1 According to application area, there are different categories of mobile application:
- Communications: Internet browsing, email IM client, Social Networking
- Games: Puzzle/ Strategy, Cards /Casino, Action/ Adventure etc.
- Multimedia: Graphics /Image viewer, Presentations viewers, Video Players, Audio
Players
- Productivity: Calendars, Calculators, Diary, Notepad / Memo / Word Processors,
Spreadsheets
Travel: City guide, Currency converter, Translators, GPS/Maps, Itineraries / Schedules,
Weather
Utilities: Profile manager, idle screen/Screen saver, Address book, Task manager, Call
2

3. Manager, File manager
3.2 Present uses of Mobile Application
From the last few years every mobile company are making the smartphone and feature phone.
And increasing the computing power of those mobile phones, rapidly increase the smart mobile
application. Most of the people from developed countries including America and Europe can‟t
imagine leaving home without mobile. Not only the developed countries but also the developing
countries the mobile application uses rate growth rapidly. The mobile application are using in
different areas.
Let‟s think about communication like internet browsing, Voice chat, Facebook, Twitter etc. Now
a day every standard mobile has Facebook application. User can share with their friends and
family from anywhere and any place like in car, in train. People can use messenger for chatting.
Those mobile applications are being design to help us in our daily life and allow us to connect
with internet, interact with world, getting information from distance place, social communication
using Facebook or twitter, identifying location etc.
Now a day most of the smartphone has WLAN/Wi-Fi. So user can connect to Internet or local
network with high data transmission rate. Because of better connectivity in future the mobile
application provider are going to make application for doing business.
3.3 Mobile Application’s Effect in Society from the Ethical Perspective
Not only individuals or business, the mobile application also has a great effect in society. The
whole society can be facilitating using mobile application. Some issues of social effect describe
as bellow:
Quick communication:
Some mobile application like Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, Skype, viber and Google Talk are
helps the society people for communication to each other. They can stay in touch where the
geographical distance is not a factor. So the social relation improves and make strong. And this
is good for family, friend and society.
Save time and increase productivity:
In society or in developed country people can do their daily work like check email, contact with
business partner from any time in bus, train, car or walk. So, no need to wait in room or office. In
this way save the time and people can get more time to work. The manpower‟s productivity of
society or country is increasing gradually.
Improve IT infrastructure in developing country:
In developing country the uses of mobile application improve the knowledge of people, because,
they are accessing Internet from everywhere. As a result the IT infrastructure improves in any
developing country.
Increase Job vacancy:
The mobile application development and mobile application business make more job vacancy in
society. So many people can get job in this field. This is also good for society/country.
Less computer use less power consumption:
When most of the people will use mobile application for their daily simple work and getting
facility from mobile application, the computer uses will be less as well as the power consumption
will be less.
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4. Considerable Cost Saving:
Mobile VoIP application can help people to making international call from his mobile. As a result
the monthly expenditure reduced.
Entertainment:
Using mobile applications people in society can entertained themselves. There are so many
other social effect issues which all are ethically good for the society. On the other hand there
are some bad effects of mobile application which are not ethically good for the society.
Those issues are as follows:
1. When the so many Internet based mobile application is available to the teenager, they are
wasting time by using Facebook, Skype, YouTube etc. The young generations are in risk when
they are using internet game or other bad application.
2. Beside the uses of mobile application most of the people use mobile in every place like bus,
train, office, college, university. Some body feels disturb for them.
3. Frequently use of mobile is bad for health.
3.4 Limitations in Mobile Application usage
One of the big challenges of mobile application is its platform capability and limitation. Beside
the interesting usability of mobile application they have some more interesting platform
problems and limitation:
3.4.1 Small Screen Size: In mobile platform it is difficult or impossible to view text and
graphics like a desktop computer screen.
3.4.2 Lack of windows: In desktop we can see many windows at a time. But in mobile
Platform it is difficult.
3.4.3 Navigation: Most mobile devices do not have mouse like pointer, so it has limited
flexibility in navigation
3.4.4 Types of pages accessible: The mobile platform does not support all type of file
format.
3.4.5 Speed: The speed of processing and speed of connectivity of mobile platform is
slow.
3.4.6 Size of messages or email: Many device support limited number of characters in
Message or email.
3.4.7 Cost: The cost of cellphone, mobile application and the internet bandwidth charge is
high.
3.5 Mobile development environments
There are also many development environments. Developers can also choose from either
native development tools for each of the major mobile devices and platforms (including Apple®
iOS, Android™, Microsoft® Windows® Mobile and Microsoft® Phone 7, Symbian®, RIM®
4

5. BlackBerry®, Java®, Linux®, and Meego™) or cross-platform environments (including mobile
enterprise application platforms such as SAP AG‟s Sybase Unwired Platform, Kony Solutions
Inc.‟s KonyOne™ platform, or Antenna Software Inc.‟s Antenna Mobility Platform™, or mobile
consumer application platforms, including PhoneGap™ and Appcelerator® Titanium).
3.6 Addressing the Challenges of Enterprise Mobile Development
3.6.1Data Access
Where is the enterprise data users need to access? Should it be accessed through a Web
browser, or through a native application running on the device? In some cases, the data might
exist solely in a backend database. That requires connectivity, but the state of wireless
coverage is such that,
3.6.2Security
Every mobile device manufacturer understands the importance of security, and offers
accommodations for it. For developers, however, that means each operating system has its own
custom architecture. Sometimes different mobile platforms provide varying degrees of support
for securing data stored on the device. At the same time, not every mobile application needs the
same level of security, and users dislike multiple logins to access data on the device itself or
back-end data.
3.6.3User Experience
This is especially important in cross-platform scenarios where screen sizes may not only differ
but offer the option of portrait versus landscape. How is the screen real estate best used? What
features should be available? Developers have to remember that users on the go are usually
looking for specific information, and determine how to make that information as easy to find as
possible. They also have to differentiate between internal and external users.
In this modern age of Information and communication Technology, peoples are habituated to
use mobile and portable smart devices. Therefore, Mobile application development and usage is
a new and rapidly growing sector in the world.
There is a global positive impact of mobile application. Within last few year, smartphone and
mobile application uses growth rate is so high according to some BI study. So the Mobile and
mobile application also has a great positive impact on society and Business sector.
Mobile applications are running on a small hand hold mobile device which is moveable, easy to
use and accessible from anywhere and any place. Now a day, so many people are using mobile
application in order to contact their friends, browse internet, file content management, document
creating and handling, entertainment etc. From everywhere user can get facility of mobile
application. The mobile application has an impact on society as well as business world.
The mobile application run in a mobile environment which usability depends on several factors
such as: Screen resolution, Hardware limitations, Expensive Data Usage, Connectivity issues,
Limited Interaction possibilities. Therefore, mobile device manufactures are trying to develop
mobile device with more screen resolution, more storage, better connectivity which provide
better environment for modern mobile application as well as mobile developers are also take
effort to develop mobile applications with more effectives .
5

6. In large number of mobile application some are pre-installed in phone and others user can
download from internet and install it in mobile phone. This large number of mobile application
market served by increasing no of mobile application developer, publishers and providers. From
the technical point of view the different mobile applications are run able in different managed
platforms like iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Symbian, windows; also some virtual machine such
as Java/J2ME, BREW, Flash Light, Silverlight.
3.7According to application area, there are different categories of mobile application:
- Communications: Internet browsing, email IM client, Social Networking
-
Games: Puzzle/ Strategy, Cards /Casino, Action/ Adventure etc.
Multimedia: Graphics /Image viewer, Presentations viewers, Video Players, Audio
Players
Productivity: Calendars, Calculators, Diary, Notepad / Memo / Word Processors,
Spreadsheets
Travel: City guide, Currency converter, Translators, GPS/Maps, Itineraries / Schedules,
Weather
-
Utilities: Profile manager, idle screen/Screen saver, Address book, Task manager, Call
Manager, File manager
3.8Present day uses of Mobile Application
From the last few years every mobile company are making the smartphone and feature phone.
And increasing the computing power of those mobile phones, rapidly increase the smart mobile
application. Most of the people from developed countries including America and Europe can‟t
imagine leaving home without mobile. Not only the developed countries but also the developing
countries the mobile application uses rate growth rapidly. The mobile application are using in
different areas.
Let‟s think about communication like internet browsing, Voice chat, Facebook, Twitter etc. Now
a day every standard mobile has Facebook application. User can share with their friends and
family from anywhere and any place like in car, in train. People can use messenger for chatting.
Those mobile applications are being design to help us in our daily life and allow us to connect
with internet, interact with world, getting information from distance place, social communication
using Facebook or twitter, identifying location etc.
Now a day most of the smartphone has WLAN/Wi-Fi. So user can connect to Internet or local
network with high data transmission rate. Because of better connectivity in future the mobile
application provider are going to make application for doing business.
3.9 Mobile Application’s Effect in Society from the Ethical Perspective
6

7. Not only individuals or business, the mobile application also has a great effect in society. The
whole society can be facilitating using mobile application. Some issues of social effect describe
as bellow:
3.9.1Quick communication:
Some mobile application like Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, Skype, viber and Google Talk are
helps the society people for communication to each other. They can stay in touch where the
geographical distance is not a factor. So the social relation improves and make strong. And this
is good for family, friend and society.
3.9.2save time and increase productivity:
In society or in developed country people can do their daily work like check email, contact with
business partner from any time in bus, train, car or walk. So, no need to wait in room or office. In
this way save the time and people can get more time to work. The manpower‟s productivity of
society or country is increasing gradually.
3.9.3Improve IT infrastructure in developing country:
In developing country the uses of mobile application improve the knowledge of people, because,
they are accessing Internet from everywhere. As a result the IT infrastructure improves in any
developing country.
3.9.4Increase Job vacancy:
The mobile application development and mobile application business make more job vacancy in
society. So many people can get job in this field. This is also good for society/country.
3.9.5Less computer use less power consumption:
When most of the people will use mobile application for their daily simple work and getting
facility from mobile application, the computer uses will be less as well as the power consumption
will be less.
3.9.6Considerable Cost Saving:
Mobile VoIP application can help people to making international call from his mobile. As a result
the monthly expenditure reduced.
3.9.7Entertainment:
Using mobile applications people in society can entertained themselves. There are so many
other social effect issues which all are ethically good for the society. On the other hand there
are some bad effects of mobile application which are not ethically good for the society.
3.9.7.1Those issues as follows:
3.9.7.1.1When there are so many Internet based mobile application is available to the teenager,
they are wasting their time by using Facebook, Skype, YouTube etc. The young generations are
in risk when they are using internet game or other bad application.
3.9.7.1.2Beside the uses of mobile application most of the people use mobile in every place like
bus, train, office, college, university. Some body feels disturb for them.
3.9.7.1.3Frequently use of mobile is bad for health.
3.10 Limitations in Mobile Application usage
7

8. One of the big challenges of mobile application is its platform capability and limitation. Beside
the interesting usability of mobile application they have some more interesting platform
problems and limitation. We are trying to discuss the limitation in bellow:
3.10.1Small Screen Size: In mobile platform it is difficult or impossible to view text and graphics
like a desktop computer screen.
3.10.2Lack of windows: In desktop we can see many windows at a time. But in mobile platform
it is difficult.
3.10.3Navigation: Most mobile devices do not have mouse like pointer, so it has limited
flexibility in navigation.
3.10.4Types of pages accessible: The mobile platform does not support all type of file
Format
3.10.5Speed: The speed of processing and speed of connectivity of mobile platform is
Slow.
3.10.6Size of messages or email: Many device support limited number of characters in
Message or email.
3.10.7Cost: The cost of cellphone, mobile application and the internet bandwidth charge is
high.
3.11 Mobile development environments
There are also many development environments. Developers can also choose from either
native development tools for each of the major mobile devices and platforms (including Apple®
iOS, Android™, Microsoft® Windows® Mobile and Microsoft® Phone 7, Symbian®, RIM®
BlackBerry®, Java®, Linux®, and Meego™) or cross-platform environments (including mobile
enterprise application platforms such as SAP AG‟s Sybase Unwired Platform, Kony Solutions
Inc.‟s KonyOne™ platform, or Antenna Software Inc.‟s Antenna Mobility Platform™, or mobile
consumer application platforms, including PhoneGap™ and Appcelerator® Titanium).
3.12Addressing the Challenges of Enterprise Mobile Development
3.12.1 Data Access
Where is the enterprise data users need to access? Should it be accessed through a Web
browser, or through a native application running on the device? In some cases, the data might
exist solely in a backend database. That requires connectivity, but the state of wireless
coverage is such that,
3.12.2 Security
Every mobile device manufacturer understands the importance of security, and offers
accommodations for it. For developers, however, that means each operating system has its own
custom architecture. Sometimes different mobile platforms provide varying degrees of support
for securing data stored on the device. At the same time, not every mobile application needs the
same level of security, and users dislike multiple logins to access data on the device itself or
back-end data.
8

9. 3.12.3User Experience
This is especially important in cross-platform scenarios where screen sizes may not only differ
but offer the option of portrait versus landscape. How is the screen real estate best used? What
features should be available? Developers have to remember that users on the go are usually
looking for specific information, and determine how to make that information as easy to find as
possible. They also have to differentiate between internal and external users.
4. Corporate Profile of Peoples Bank in Sri Lanka
The People‟s Bank was established on July 1, 1961 and it is one of the biggest state-owned
commercial bank in Sri Lanka with over 16,000 employees and 731 branches and service
centers across the country.
The bank serves more than 18 million corporate and private customers with retail, trade finance
and off shore banking services and relationships built on the principles of comprehensive
financial guidance and advices.
The bank plays a major role in uplifting the rural sector by taking the bank activities to grass root
levels as the bank‟s vision.
4.1 Banking history of People’s Bank
Banking activities were done through following methods and banking hours were Restricted to
few hours.
•
•
•
•
Manual Process
Ledger Cards / Sheets
Tokens
Adding Machines etc.
4.2 Development of Banking
e-COMMERCE were introduced and
All Transactions are done using electronic
channels
e.g.: Internet / Telephone / Electronic devices etc.
History of e-COMMERCE
o
o
o
e-COMMERCE were started in 1984 and expanded in 1994 when SSL (Secure
Sockets Layer ) was introduced
(EDI – Electronic Data Interchange was standardized)
Two major e-COMMERCE sites were Popularized in 1995 (eg: Amazon.com
and Ebay.com)
In this period electronic signatures and cyber laws (Cyber law or Internet law is a
term that encapsulates the legal issues related to use of the Internet) were
introduced.
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10. 4.3 ELECTRONIC BANKING
•
Full Fill Banking Needs VIA Electronic technologies
Use computers & electronic technologies as substitute for manual operations without
human interference.
People‟s Bank always uses best technologies to provide better customer service.
As a result the bank has computerized all branches under Core Banking solution (CBS) and
provide anytime, anywhere banking facility to all customers.
4.3.1Core Banking System (CBS)
Runs on AS/400 machine - Operating system is OS400 and Database is DB2
is a networking of branches and Service centers, which enables customers to
operate their accounts, and avail banking services from any branch of the Bank on
CBS network, regardless of where he/she maintains his/her account. The customer
is no more the customer of a Branch. Customer becomes the Bank‟s customer. Thus
CBS is a step towards enhancing customer convenience through anywhere and
anytime banking.
Using the main core system of the Bank provides following financial services for the
customers as retail and Corporate Banking.
Current accounts, Savings accounts, Fixed Deposits (Local, NRFC, RFC),
Loans (Export loans, Import loans, Block loans, SMI loans etc.), Overdraft facilities,
Inward/Outward cheque clearing, Standing Orders, Pay Orders, Branch Advice,
Claim Vouchers, Letter of credits, Import/Export Bills, Mini Dealer system
(Purchasing & Selling Foreign currency).
Aim of this is to provide convenient, efficient, and high quality banking experience to the
customers, comparable to world class standards.
Benefits of customers using CBS
•
A CBS branch is like a Sales and Service Delivery Center. Back office
processes/activities are handled through technologies at the Data Center which resides
in some other location.
Branch, therefore, has more time for serving customers. This improves the quality and
efficiency of the services rendered and the customer is directly benefited by way of
satisfying happy banking experience.
10

11. 4.3.2Central Switch system
o
Card Management System is handled through this system and that is separated
from the Core Banking System.
Is connected 442 Automated Teller Machines (ATM)
Includes Credit Card system and Debit card system
4.3.3Other Payment delivery channels
Pawning system, People‟s EPF web system, Cheque Clearing system (Lanka
Clearing ), People‟s bank intranet, HR System, Treasury system, In-house
developments, Inter Bank Payment system (SLIP)
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
a) Used to perform financial transactions electronically eg: Withdrawal, Deposits
o
ATM (Automated Teller Machine)
Available functions - Withdraw/Deposit money, Transfer money
o
Swift system
SWIFT (The Society for World Wide Interbank Financial Telecommunication)


o
One of the financial messaging network in the World
Messages are securely and reliably exchanged between banks and
other financial institutions
Western Union system
Western Union is a quicker money transfer system, collect and send money
all over the world through 170000 Western Union agents in the world.
Web System for Remittances (People‟s eRemittance)
Separate web page designed by People‟s Bank to receive all inward remittances
which are sent by different exchange companies / banks to People‟s Bank to avoid
the delay of paying remittances to People‟s Bank customers or non customers
Internet related Facilities
Internet Banking
Mobile banking
People‟s EPF Net
Customs Web
Parm-top Banking
SMS Banking
Central Bank Web
People‟s bank Intranet
11

12. People‟s bank Main web page
Telephone Banking
b) The bank provides high quality distance banking services (Modern Banking
Trends) such as


Holiday Banking
Home Banking
4.4 People’s Bank Organizational hierarchy
Chairman
Board of Directors
Corporate Management
Chief Managers
Senior Managers
Managers
Operational Staff
12

13. 4.5People’s Bank Business Units
Branch
Central
Switch
Overseas
Customer Unit
(OCU)
Corporate
Banking
Division (CBD)
Card
Center
Branch
People’s
Bank
Treasury
Subsidiary
Companies
Foreign
Currency
Unit (FCBU)
Head
Office
Clearing
Dept
IT Dept.
Other
Departments
People’s Leasing Co. PVT. Ltd.
People’s Merchant Bank,
People’s Travel
Data Center at Thalangama
Finance Dept., Risk Dept., Legal
Dept., SMI Loans Dept., HR Dept.,
GM/Chairman Dept., Recoveries
Dept, Transport Dept., Mail Dept.,
Maintenance Dept., Salaries Dept.,
Investigating Dept., Marketing Dept
Disaster Recovery Center
13

14. 4.6Following Diagram illustrates the connection between Core system and the other
systems
External
Systems
FCBU
Corporate
banking division
Overseas
Customer
Unit
Core
System
Branch
Swift
Extract Data
for Sri Lanka
Customs
IHRM
System
Western
Union
Pawning
System
h
Central
Switch
Head Office
Customs
Web
IHRM
System
Cr. Card
system
Dr. Card
System
ATM
Treasury
Debit
Card
ATM
SLIPS
Cheque
Clearing
IBT
Credit
Card
Foreign Exchange
Money Market
Primary Dealer Unit
Front Office
5. Current situation with regard to mobile applications in Peoples Bank
14

15. 5.1 PEOPLE’S MOBILE BANKING
The State Bank of People Bank has taken steps to adopt the new Technologies along with
Online Banking facility with Mobile Banking service.
People‟s Mobile Banking enables you to get the personal, business as well as development
related banking services at a „touch of a button‟, giving banking an all new meaning in terms of
convenience and efficiency.
The specialty of this new service is the personalized USSD (Unstructured Supplementary
Services Data) information portal through which customers can obtain varied services at their
will.
Through the use of Short Message Services (SMS) on a Dialog Axiata/ Mobitel hand phone, a
People‟s Bank customer can now do a host of banking activities with greater convenience
PEOPLE‟S MOBILE BANKING is for Dialog Axiata users and PEOPLE‟S SMS BANKING is for
Mobitel users.
5.2 Who is eligible?
People‟s Bank account (Saving or Current) holders.
Dialog Axiata orMobitel mobile phone user having SMS facility registered in the name of the
account holder.
5.3 What are the benefits?
-Convenient – anytime, anywhere banking from your mobile
-With Mobile Banking customer can do banking from anywhere at any time through an
interactive browsing experience on the phone.
-It can work on all mobile phone handsets (At the moment PB has the facility with dialog and
mobitel phones. Discussions are going on with etisalat).
-Ability to carry out transactions without visiting the bank.
-Access to financial information.
-Banking facilities while on the move.
-Secure – New USSD menu based technology
-Mobile banking is also much safer than SMS-based banking services as it has an in-built USSD
encryption and „no store just forward‟ facility for performing secure transactions.
This means that unlike an SMS-based service, there is no storage of data on your handset.
Also, the transactions are limited to a single registered mobile number and, when you sign up
you create a unique PIN which ensures that you and only you can access you accounts.
-Simple – no need to remember complex commands
-This new technology means that you need not remember any transaction message formats.
-Select from menu until desired result is achieved
15

16. -Free - No charges
-Specifically designed for individuals.
-Fast – do it all at a push of a button
The People‟s Bank has extended its mobile banking facility to a wider cross section of Sri
Lankans by offering the service to subscribers of Dialog and Mobitel, the country‟s largest
mobile telephone network holders.
This facility is operated on USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) technology used
by GSM phones to communicate with their service providers‟ computers.
Because these services are offered on the USSD platform, they can be accessed via any phone
ranging from a basic phone to the most advanced phone unit that is in the market and do not
require an Internet connection.
With its easy to access menu-driven portal, USSD-based mobile banking offers greater
convenience and functionality enabling users to carryout numerous banking transactions.
Dialog subscribers can access the USSD portal by dialing #488#. Once a customer dials into
the USSD portal, he or she has to select the required function and enter a Personal
Identification Number (PIN) provided by the bank for authentication after which the system will
execute the request.
5.4 Following are the included facilities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Our products
Deposit products
Branded Savings, Fixed Deposits, Current Accounts
Lending products
Corporate Banking
Other products
Rates
Exchange Rates
Promotions
Transactions
Inquires
Inquires on balances of accounts
Examining five latest transactions
Find out Exchange rates
Inquires on credit card balance
Information on cheques
Transfer funds between accounts
Exchange funds between registered own accounts
Exchange funds between other accounts owned
Transfer funds to the credit of third party accounts (accounts within the bank)
Bill Payments
16

17. 22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
Dialog /Mobitel Bills
Dialog/Mobitelre-loads
People‟s Card
SLT Bills
Lanka Bell Bills
National Water Supply and Drainage Board Bills
CEB Bills
LECO Bills
Requisitions
Requisitions of cheque books
Requisitions of Account statements
Pawning
Inquiry of pawning balance
Prior notice on articles require to be redeemed
Changes to PIN numbers
Location Map
E-Banking
Card Center
Other Services
6. MobileBanking Systems in General
Mobile banking is a system that allows customers of a financial institution to conduct a number
of financial transactions through a mobile device such as a mobile phone or personal digital
assistant.
Mobile banking differs from mobile payments, which involve the use of a mobile device to pay
for goods or services either at the point of sale or remotely, [1] analogously to the use of a debit
or credit card to effect an EFTPOS payment.
Mobile banking has until recently (2010) most often been performed via SMS or the mobile web.
Apple's initial success with iPhone and the rapid growth of phones based on Google's Android
(operating system) have led to increasing use of special client programs, called apps,
downloaded to the mobile device. With that said advancements in web technologies, such as
HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript have seen more banks launching mobile web based services to
complement native applications. A recent study (May 2012) by Mapa Research suggests that
over a third of banks [3] have mobile device detection upon visiting the banks' main website. A
number of things can happen on mobile detection such as redirecting to an app store,
redirection to a mobile banking specific website or providing a menu of mobile banking options
for the user to choose from.
7. Architecture of an enterprise application
17

18. Mobile devices are not within the security perimeter and are connected to a range of external
networks, so the connectivity must be secure.Minimally the app should use HTTPS for
communications to the gateway which resides in the DMZ.The server resides in a network DMZ
because all mobile cell access comes in via the public Internet.The application should require
user authentication via user name/passwords (and user roles if needed), and also encrypt all
data. There are two methods of developing and deploying cross-platform mobile apps – HTML5
based apps and using cross-platform compiler tools. HTML5 apps use standard web
technologies-typically HTML5, JavaScript and CSS. This Write Once and Run Many solution
requires you to write your code once, which can be over different platforms.
Fig. 1 - Architecture of an enterprise application
7.1Mobile Enterprise Applications (MEA)
MEAs, are available only to employees of an organization, and must conform to enterprise
security rules, interface with the existing enterprise IT architecture, and control data usage, both
incoming and outgoing.MEAs must be part of a complete system just like any other enterprise
application.
The hardware architecture begins with a dedicated mobile gateway server, which provides the
interface point for accessing/updating enterprise data.
7.2 A mobile banking conceptual model
In one academic model, [4] mobile banking is defined as:
18

19. Mobile Banking refers to provision and availability of banking- and financial services through the
help of mobile telecommunication devices. The scope of offered services may include facilities
to conduct bank and stock market transactions, to administer accounts and to access
customized information."
According to this model mobile banking can be said to consist of three inter-related concepts:
Mobile accounting
Mobile brokerage
Mobile financial information services
Most services in the categories designated accounting and brokerage are transaction-based.
The non-transaction-based services of an informational nature are however essential for
conducting transactions - for instance, balance inquiries might be needed before committing a
money remittance. The accounting and brokerage services are therefore offered invariably in
combination with information services. Information services, on the other hand, may be offered
as an independent module.
Mobile banking may also be used to help in business situations as well as financial services.
8. Mobile banking services
At present, banking and finance services are facing high challenges and difficulties due to the
increasing customer demands. These institutions are trying their best to fulfill all growing needs.
Competition is intensifying to build trust and confidence among customers. Banks and financial
institutions are going to develop solid strategies to support banding procedures and customers.
It is no doubt that Banks are putting their customers at the center of all IT and business
decisions. Banking and financial institutions throughout the globe are investing in mobile apps
development. Mobile apps reduce risks, enhance customer satisfaction and address the
advancements in financial sector. Development of mobile applications is exploring the ways to
capitalize growth with effective payment strategies.
According to Juniper Research (a company that renders mobile research and analysis) mobile
banking users in 2011 were about 300m which will reach 530m in 2013 due to the growing
popularity among customers. Some of the developed markets such as USA, Europe and China
have highest penetration of users into mobile banking arena. It is said that mobile banking
usage has already leading that of desktop based one in USA.
8.1Typical mobile banking services may include:
Account information
Mini-statements and checking of account history
Alerts on account activity or passing of set thresholds
Monitoring of term deposits
Access to loan statements
Access to card statements
Mutual funds / equity statements
Insurance policy management
Payments, deposits, withdrawals, and transfers
Cash-in, cash-out transactions on an ATM
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20. -
Domestic and international fund transfers
Micro-payment handling
Mobile & Direct to Home package recharging
Purchasing tickets for travel and entertainment
Commercial payment processing
Bill payment processing
„Peer to Peer payments‟ (e.g., Pop money, Isis)
Withdrawal at banking agent
Deposit at banking agent
A specific sequence of SMS messages will enable the system to verify if the client has sufficient
funds in his or her wallet and authorize a deposit or withdrawal transaction at the agent. When
depositing money, the merchant receives cash and the system credits the client's bank account
or mobile wallet. In the same way the client can also withdraw money at the merchant: through
exchanging SMS to provide authorization, the merchant hands the client cash and debits the
merchant's account.
Kenya's M-PESA mobile banking service, for example, allows customers of the mobile phone
operator Safaricom to hold cash balances which are recorded on their SIM cards. Cash may be
deposited or withdrawn from M-PESA accounts at Safaricom retail outlets located throughout
the country, and may be transferred electronically from person to person as well as used to pay
bills to companies. One of the most innovative applications of mobile banking technology is
Zidisha, a US-based nonprofit micro lending platform that allows residents of developing
countries to raise small business loans from web users worldwide. Zidisha uses mobile banking
for loan disbursements and repayments, transferring funds from lenders in the United States to
the borrowers in rural Africa using nothing but the internet and mobile phones. [5]
In Côte d'Ivoire (and 9 other countries in Africa and the Middle East), Orange has a commercial
offer called Orange Money which includes:
-money transfers (users can send money using their phone to any other customer in the
country), deposit and withdrawal;
-financial services, including solutions facilitating savings and insurance (according to the
country);
-payments, giving users a way to pay their bills (and buy mobile phone credit) and to pay for
goods at shops that accept Orange Money electronically without cash.
-Investments
-Portfolio management services
-Real-time stock quotes
-Personalized alerts and notifications on security prices
-Support
-Status of requests for credit, including mortgage approval, and insurance coverage
-Check (cheque) book and card requests
-Exchange of data messages and email, including complaint submission and tracking
ATM Location
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21. -Content services
-General information such as weather updates, news
-Loyalty-related offers
-Location-based services
A report by the US Federal Reserve (March 2012) found that 21 percent of mobile phone
owners had used mobile banking in the past 12 months.[6] Based on a survey conducted by
Forrester, mobile banking will be attractive mainly to the younger, more "tech-savvy" customer
segment. A third of mobile phone users say that they may consider performing some kind of
financial transaction through their mobile phone. But most of the users are interested in
performing basic transactions such as querying for account balance and making bill payment.
9. Future functionalities in mobile banking
Based on the 'International Review of Business Research Papers' from World business Institute,
Australia, following are the key functional trends possible in world of Mobile Banking.
With the advent of technology and increasing use of smartphone and tablet based devices, the
use of Mobile Banking functionality would enable customer connect across entire customer life
cycle much comprehensively than before. With this scenario, current mobile banking objectives
of say building relationships, reducing cost, achieving new revenue stream will transform to
enable new objectives targeting higher level goals such as building brand of the banking
organization. Emerging technology and functionalities would enable to create new ways of lead
generation, prospecting as well as developing deep customer relationship and mobile banking
world would achieve superior customer experience with bi-directional communications. Among
digital channels, mobile banking is a clear IT investment priority in 2013 as retail banks attempt
to capitalize on the features unique to mobile, such as location-based services [7].
9.1Illustration of objective based functionality enrichment In Mobile Banking
-Communication enrichment: - Video Interaction with agents, advisors.
-Pervasive Transactions capabilities: - Comprehensive “Mobile wallet”
-Customer Education: - “Test drive” for demos of banking services
-Connect with new customer segment: - Connect with Gen Y – Gen Z using games and social
network ambushed to surrogate bank‟s offerings
-Content monetization: - Micro level revenue themes such as music, e-book downloads
-Vertical positioning: - Positioning offerings over mobile banking specific industries
-Horizontal positioning: - Positioning offerings over mobile banking across all the industries
-Personalization of corporate banking services: - Personalization experience for multiple roles
and hierarchies in corporate banking as against the vanilla based segment based
enhancements in the current context.
-Build Brand: - Built the bank‟s brand while enhancing the “Mobile real estate”.
10. Challenges for a mobile banking solution
Key challenges in developing a sophisticated mobile banking application are:
21

22. 10.1 Handset operability
There are a large number of different mobile phone devices and it is a big challenge for banks to
offer mobile banking solution on any type of device. Some of these devices support Java ME
and others support SIM Application Toolkit, a WAP browser, or only SMS.
Initial interoperability issues however have been localized, with countries like India using portals
like R-World to enable the limitations of low end java based phones, while focus on areas such
as South Africa have defaulted to the USSD as a basis of communication achievable with any
phone.
The desire for interoperability is largely dependent on the banks themselves, where installed
applications (Java based or native) provide better security, are easier to use and allow
development of more complex capabilities similar to those of internet banking while SMS can
provide the basics but becomes difficult to operate with more complex transactions.
There is a myth that there is a challenge of interoperability between mobile banking applications
due to perceived lack of common technology standards for mobile banking. In practice it is too
early in the service lifecycle for interoperability to be addressed within an individual country, as
very few countries have more than one mobile banking service provider. In practice, banking
interfaces are well defined and money movements between banks follow the IS0-8583
standard. As mobile banking matures, money movements between service providers will
naturally adopt the same standards as in the banking world.
On January 2009, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Banking Sub-Committee, chaired by
Cell Trust and VeriSign Inc., published the Mobile Banking Overview for financial institutions in
which it discussed the advantages and disadvantages of Mobile Channel Platforms such as
Short Message Services (SMS), Mobile Web, Mobile Client Applications, and SMS with Mobile
Web and Secure SMS. [8]
10.2 Security
Security of financial transactions, being executed from some remote location and transmission
of financial information over the air, are the most complicated challenges that need to be
addressed jointly by mobile application developers, wireless network service providers and the
banks' IT departments (Mathur, 2010).
The following aspects need to be addressed to offer a secure infrastructure for financial
transaction over wireless network:
-Physical part of the hand-held device - If the bank is offering smart-card based security, the
physical security of the device is more important.
-Security of any thick-client application running on the device - In case the device is stolen;
the hacker should require at least an ID/Password to access the application.
-Authentication of the device with service provider before initiating a transaction - This
would ensure that unauthorized devices are not connected to perform financial transactions.
-User ID / Password authentication of bank’s customer.
22

23. -Encryption of the data being transmitted over the air.
-Encryption of the data that will be stored in device for later / off-line analysis by the
customer.
One-time password (OTPs) are the latest tool used by financial and banking service providers in
the fight against cyber fraud.[9] Instead of relying on traditional memorized passwords, OTPs
are requested by consumers each time they want to perform transactions using the online or
mobile banking interface. When the request is received the password is sent to the consumer‟s
phone via SMS. The password is expired once it has been used or once its scheduled life-cycle
has expired.
Because of the concerns made explicit above, it is extremely important that SMS gateway
providers can provide a decent quality of service for banks and financial institutions in regards to
SMS services. Therefore, the provision of service level agreements (SLAs) is a requirement for
this industry; it is necessary to give the bank customer delivery guarantees of all messages, as
well as measurements on the speed of delivery, throughput, etc. SLAs give the service
parameters in which a messaging solution is guaranteed to perform.
10.3 Scalability and reliability
Another challenge for the CIOs and CTOs of the banks is to scale-up the mobile banking
infrastructure to handle exponential growth of the customer base. With mobile banking, the
customer may be sitting in any part of the world (true anytime, anywhere banking) and hence
banks need to ensure that the systems are up and running in a true 24 x 7 fashion. As
customers will find mobile banking more and more useful, their expectations from the solution
will increase. Banks unable to meet the performance and reliability expectations may lose
customer confidence. There are systems such as Mobile Transaction Platform which allow quick
and secure mobile enabling of various banking services. Recently in India there has been a
phenomenal growth in the use of Mobile Banking applications, with leading banks adopting
Mobile Transaction Platform and the Central Bank publishing guidelines for mobile banking
operations (Mathur, 2010).
10.4 Application distribution
According to Mathur, 2010, due to the nature of the connectivity between bank and its
customers, it would be impractical to expect customers to regularly visit banks or connect to a
web site for regular upgrade of their mobile banking application. It will be expected that the
mobile application itself check the upgrades and updates and download necessary patches (so
called "Over the Air" updates). However, there could be many issues to implement this
approach such as upgrade / synchronization of other dependent components.
10.5 Personalization
It would be expected from the mobile application to support personalization such as:
23

24. -Preferred Language
-Date / Time format
-Amount format
-Default transactions
-Standard Beneficiary list
-Alerts
-Mobile content
-Mobile Marketing
-Mobile payments
-SMS Banking
-Notes
11.Enterprise Mobile Application in Peoples Bank
In the new banking era, where each and every bank is trying to attract and retain more and
more customer with the help of quality and best services. Mobile banking appsare new and
wonderful customer service tools to provide banking facility to customer on his or her mobile
phone and more rapidly and more fast.
Mobile banking (also known as M-Banking, M-banking, SMS Banking etc.) is a term used for
performing balance checks, account transactions, payments etc. via a mobile device such as a
mobile phone. Mobile banking today is most often performed via SMS or the Mobile Internet but
can also use special programs called clients download to the mobile device (Mathur, 2010).
The main advantage of mobile apps for the Peoples Bank would be that it helps to improve its
customer acquisition and retention while reducing its operational costs. There is no doubt that
will minimize the transaction expenses through electronic functions without human participation.
Peoples Bank customers will feel comfortable in carrying out basic banking procedures on
mobile devices. Most commonly used mobile banking services among the customers are SMS
based inquires, using text commands. Further it will also include information services like
transaction records, balance status, market information, account administration and settings etc.
Peoples Bank has to pay more attention to its customer experience. It will reduce complaint
rates and pleasing customer community with effective service delivery. Peoples Bank can
anticipate customer demands of smartphones being developed for platforms such as iPhone
and Android. Since it is a fact that many Sri Lankan consumers are seeking reliable and
effective ways to control and increase their finances in uncertain economic times which they
have facing at present and also in the past. The bank definitely can provide its un-served clients
through using mobile apps. Clients can receive loans even day to day business via mobile
devices.
We can be sure that by adopting mobile apps banks will become fully operational, agile and
technology enriched. The bank will be in a better position to engage its customers and meet
their demand in an advanced style. One can see that the Bank can improve its service quality
and will be in a position to deliver financial products to its business community more effectively
and efficiently than before.
24

25. The most critical part of mobile apps is its user interface (UI). It is directly related to the usability
of the application. As stated by Pinch Media, on the day after an app is downloaded, only 20%
users use it. By day 30, the figure drops to 3%. These figures will tell as that a generic mobile
app satisfies the long-term expectations of only 3% of the target user community. Peoples Bank
needs to design its enterprise mobile apps UI in keeping the end user in mind. From the coloring
scheme to the complexity of the interface to the page flows, all need to be focused on one thing,
which is making the user experience better.
Apart from the UI, performance of the mobile app is the biggest factor that makes a user like a
particular app. It is no doubt that smart phones today overcome the computational capabilities of
the laptops.
Functionality is the core of any mobile app. It is the primary reason why enterprises such as a
Bank choose to build an app over buying “Commercial off the Shelf” Applications.
When using mobile apps, the bank has to consider security and its compliance requirements
without haste to meet the mobility challenge. People Bank has to give serious thought to this
because almost all enterprise apps are linked into the internal enterprise system in one way or
other. If not Peoples Banks systems will become vulnerable since a security flaw in the app will
lead to such vulnerability. Security policy enforcement in mobile apps is the biggest challenge
faced by enterprises wanting to go mobile.
The mobile applications envisaged by the bank should consider that the technology used for
creating a mobile app solves the problems of their customer community rather than merely
being easy to use. Therefore, correctly identifying the expectations of the target users is vital
importance. Bank must make sure that most problems of the customers are solved by a one
touch access on the app. While the mobile app is solving a problem, it must be task oriented
and driven by event so that the customer is always kept in the loop as the app starts functioning.
The biggest mistake the bank can make is selecting an app which makes to cram too many
images and content into a single mobile app. The best app is the one which focusses one or two
specific problems. It is also vital important to identify and involve the target bank customers of a
mobile app. The banks objective of introducing an app is to attract an increasing number of
customers to use his/her app. The bank has to conduct market research in such a way that
research team should talk to customers constantly regarding their needs and expectations. The
Bank can also present dummy designs of the final app to the target audience so that they may
select the best design appropriate to them.
It is like solving a “Rubik‟s cube puzzle” when you are about to make a decisions to select
mobile apps for an enterprise such as a financial organization at present.
There are so many other factors that the bank and its development team need to take into
account. Ignoring any of those factors will certainly lead to setbacks such as end user
dissatisfaction to negative Return on Investment (ROI) to complete failure of the project.
One of the major challenges that the bank and its teams envisaged to face is the diversity of
mobile devices and platforms that are used by the target user base. Financial institute provided,
25

26. standard and regulated devicesare a thing belong to the past. Buy Your Own Device (BYOD)
concept is gaining momentum, and device manufacturers and platform owners engaged in a
leadership battle, the types and number of mobile devices available to the users is ever
increasing.
The ROI of developing and supporting individual native enterprise apps for such a myriad of
device-OS combinations does not justify the cost. Therefore a new breed of apps is fast
evolving, i.e. cross-platform mobile apps.
11.1Cross-platform mobile apps
These are the apps that once created, can run on multiple mobile platforms like iOS, Blackberry,
Android apps etc. This will save a tremendous amount of development efforts of the bank, since
there is only one instance of the app that is being created. Cross-platform apps also reduce the
support and management effort considerably for the same reason. Due to the reduced efforts
and subsequently the cost, cross-platform apps are much lucrative for the bank.
But the Bank has to make a note of cross-platform apps come with inherent complexities.
Hence managing user experience across multiple devices is a challenge. Also, since every
mobile platform has its own idiosyncrasies and flaws, they sometimes get amplified when
deploying cross-platform apps.
12. Self-evaluation and Conclusions
The mobile application run in a mobile environment which usability depends on several factors
such as: Screen resolution, Hardware limitations, Expensive Data Usage, Connectivity issues,
Limited Interaction possibilities. Therefore, mobile device manufactures are trying to develop
mobile device with more screen resolution, more storage, better connectivity which provide
better environment for modern mobile application as well as mobile developers are also take
effort to develop mobile applications with more effectives .
The main advantage of mobile apps for the Peoples Bank would be that it helps to improve its
customer acquisition and retention while reducing its operational costs. There is no doubt that
will minimize the transaction expenses through electronic functions without human participation.
Peoples Bank customers will feel comfortable in carrying out basic banking procedures on
mobile devices. Most commonly used mobile banking services among the customers are SMS
based inquires, using text commands. Further it will also include information services like
transaction records, balance status, market information, account administration and settings etc.
Peoples Bank has to pay more attention to its customer experience. It will reduce complaint
rates and pleasing customer community with effective service delivery.
We can be sure that by adopting mobile apps banks will become fully operational, agile and
technology enriched. The bank will be in a better position to engage its customers and meet
their demand in an advanced style. One can see that the Bank can improve its service quality
26

27. and will be in a position to deliver financial products to its business community more effectively
and efficiently than before.
References
1. Gunawardena, G.J. (2013) Power Point Presentation on mobile applications, 30 Aug.
2013.Lecture
delivered at NILIS, 2013.
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4. "A third of banks have mobile detection". Mapa Research. 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2012-0516.
5. Tiwari and Buse, 2007, p. 73-74
6. "Zidisha Set to "Expand" in Peer-to-Peer Microfinance", Microfinance Focus, Feb 2010
7. Federal Reserve Board, "Consumers and Mobile Financial Services," March 2012
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Strategy: Impact of Mobile Technologies on Customer Behavior and its Implications for
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28. Banks, in: Technology Management for the Global Future - Proceedings of PICMET '06.
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