CIMB introduces social banking

A FIRST: England and CIMB Group deputy CEO and head of consumer banking Renzo Viegas at the launch of CIMB OctoPay, the first social banking application in Asean.

CIMB Bank has introduced the OctoPay application for Facebook, a feature which the bank touts as being the first in Asean.

OctoPay is an extension of the CIMB Clicks Internet banking portal that resides on Facebook and allows CIMB Clicks members who are also using the social networking service to perform a limited number of banking tasks right within the Facebook interface.

OctoPay’s three features are Coinbox, Send Money and Prepaid Airtime.

As the name suggests Send Money allows a Facebook user to send (and receive) money from another Facebook user, while Prepaid Airtime allows for reloading of prepaid and Internet credit.

The most unusual feature, however, is Coinbox, which allows users to invite their friends to contribute to a savings pool and share money online, be it for a shared party collection, charity or meals.

Coinbox collections are only limited to a maximum of RM1,000.

According to Peter England, head of retail financial services for CIMB Bank, users need not worry about the security of banking via Facebook — even though the interface of OctoPay is on Facebook, it actually resides in CIMB’s highly secure infrastructure.

As such, every transaction still requires a Transaction Authorisation Code like for all CIMB Clicks online transactions and, at the same time, the Facebook user’s real name will also be shown.

Existing CIMB Clicks users who want to take advantage of OctoPay will have to register for the service at the CIMB Clicks site.

England also said that the three features currently available in OctoPay were chosen based on customer feedback and customised to what Facebook users would want to use.

To access more advanced online banking services, users are still recommended to access the regular CIMB Clicks site. — TAN KIT HOONG

++++ www.cimb.com.my