Standard Bank And SAP Bring Mobile Banking To Over Half A Million "Flip-Phone" Customers In South Africa Via SAP® Mobile Platform

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --  SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) today announced that Standard Bank has been successful in introducing its new AccessBanking offering in South Africa, aimed at meeting the banking needs of the previously "unbanked." This includes the AccessAccount, a transactional banking account based on SAP® Mobile Platform. SAP Mobile Platform integrates SAP and third-party back-end systems, which allows users to create visually rich mobile apps to extend the information from enterprise systems straight onto mobile devices. Since its inception in March 2012, the model has attracted more than 550,000 new customers onto the AccessAccount.

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According to research, 22 million South Africans earn less than ZAR 3,000 a month and of that figure, 66 percent do not have bank accounts. With the app, sales agents — or AccessAgents — can sign-up via a portable mobile device and open a bank account for customers within a few minutes. This allows Standard Bank to bring services to communities in areas that have been traditionally underserved, such as townships and rural areas. The platform additionally supports multiple devices and has a strong security management component so that sensitive information, applications and devices are secure. Once customers have the AccessAccount, they are able to perform transactions such as person-to-person transfers and purchasing of electricity and airtime through their mobile phones at any time. Customers can also perform transactions such as cash-in, cash-out and money transfers at Standard Bank AccessPoints, which operate through partnerships with informal traders already running businesses in their communities. This removes the need for customers to travel to branches or ATMs to bank.

"This is a very exciting time for us at Standard Bank. We have built an entirely new IT system and platform that spans across all the bank's offerings in our 'Inclusive Banking' business," said Peter Wharton Hood, deputy chief executive, Standard Bank Group. "Mobile origination is not only far more accessible for customers, it is also 80 percent cheaper. Standard Bank is one of the first major banks in the world to run SAP Mobile Platform.This tremendous competitive advantage has significantly helped us grow our customer base. We are currently opening up to 7,000 new accounts a day via SMS technology, in less than six minutes per transaction. This incredible outcome far exceeded our expectations. "

"This innovative banking project is radically affecting the lives of thousands people for the better," said Pfungwa Serima, CEO, SAP Africa. "This is a truly innovative project that underpins SAP's vision to make the world run better and improve people's lives. We look forward to seeing the continued success of the implementation across the continent."

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