SMS Banking

SMS Banking can be regarded as a type of mobile banking. It is a specialized facility made use of by the leading banks & financial institutions towards sending messages (SMS) to the respective mobile phones of the customers by making use of the SMS messaging technique. The messages can be in the form of alerts or notifications as well. Through the use of SMS Banking, the customers are enabled the ease of performing various types of financial transactions by using the SMS technology.

The Concept of Push & Pull Messages

The services related to SMS Banking could be carried out as either push or pull messages. When it comes to push messages, these are the messages sent out by banks or financial institutions to the mobile phone of the customers without the user initiating any kind of information request. On a general basis, the push messages might be in the form of a mobile marketing notification or message. Moreover, it could also be like an alert of some event happening in the respective bank account of the user including the withdrawal of some money from the user’s bank account, deposit of money into the bank account, some credit card transaction, and others. The push messages could also represent the alerts signifying some due payments or the downloading of the e-statement for the bank account.

On the other hand, the pull messages in the SMS Banking scenario refer to the OTPs (One Time Passwords). OTPs are being used as the latest tools that are utilized by banks & financial institutions towards combating different types of cyber crimes or frauds. Rather than relying on the conventional by-hearted passwords, in the given pull message system, OTPs are transmitted to the mobile phone of the customers using the mode of SMS. The users then are required to enter the OTP for completing the financial transactions using the techniques of mobile or Internet banking. The OTP sent out to the users is valid only for a limited period of time and expires once it has been used for making the transactions successful.

Push & Pull Services in SMS Banking

Depending on the level of convenience, the users can select the type of SMS Banking services they would like to avail. The selection of SMS banking services can be done using the phone or mobile banking.

Some of the common push services in SMS Banking include:

• Periodic delivery of account balance
• Reporting of credits like salary and other receipts of money into the bank account
• Insufficient funds in the account
• An alert of some due payment
• Withdrawal of money from the account
• Successful payment of cheques
• Authentication & generation of OTPs (One Time Passwords)

Some of the common pull services in SMS Banking include:

• Electronic bill payment
• Inquiry of the account balance
• Request for the mini statement
• Transfer of funds
• Inquiry about the FD (Fixed Deposit) rates

Benefits of SMS Banking

There are several points of benefits offered by SMS Banking. Here are some:

• SMS Banking allows you to make requests & receive relevant banking information with the use of your phone.
• You can check account balance, manage the account, pay bills, and perform a wide range of financial transactions using the concept of SMS Banking.
• Offers higher convenience as there is no need for going to the bank every time.
• Ease of gaining access to your bank account information as & when you need it.

Make the maximum use of SMS Banking & its services!