British Columbia’s Prospera Credit Union said Tuesday it is one of two credit unions to be the first financial institutions in Canada to allow customers to send and receive money over smart phones.
Through Interac Inc.’s e-Transfer platform, recipients of money transfers from Prospera customers now receive a secure link via email or text message on their smart phone.
Once the recipient answers a security question, money is immediately transferred between financial institutions without sharing any personal or financial information.
Most financial institutions have e-transfer platforms that have only advanced to the point where users can send or receive money transfers via computer-based email.
Prospera’s transfer notifications can now be sent either from computer to smart phone or from smart phone to smart phone in real time.
Along with Prospera, the Teachers Credit Union in Ontario is the first financial institution in Canada to use the mobile platform.
Central 1, the umbrella association that represents credit unions in B.C. and Ontario, is supplying the platform and is encouraging other credit unions to use it.
Sundeep Sandhu, Prospera’s senior vice-president of marketing, told BIV Prospera sees its new platform as another access point to the credit union for customers.
“As soon as Apple started making in-roads with [the] iPhone, you just saw a shift in consumer behaviour,” he said. “Consumers are starting to expect more out of their mobile devices.”
Sandhu said Prospera soft-launched its mobile platform six months ago among members.
He didn’t have any information about initial traction since the launch, but said: “When you look back at the launch of online banking, it took a little while for people to trust it. That’s what we’re finding on mobile too. Once the acceptance is there, we can start putting more effort into building more robust apps for people.”
He presented a scenario where a group of friends goes out for lunch.
Short of cash, one friend requires another friend to pay for a $20 lunch.
“Instead of going to bank, I can send you that $20 right then and there over my phone,” Sandhu said.
According to Central 1, 17% of credit union members in Canada have access to mobile web banking, 18% to email money transfers and 45% to mobile SMS text banking.
Oscar van der Meer, CTO for Central 1, said in a release that mobile money transfers represent the first stride towards having the smart phone replace the wallet.