Lloyds TSB mobile banking goes beyond text

Lloyds TSB has added a slew of features to its mobile banking service. From mid-October, Lloyds customers will be able to view their banking details, move money around their own accounts and receive text message alerts on their phone.

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Lloyds TSB Mobile Services will be free to certain account holders, including Premier and Private Banking Premier accounts, although the accounts themselves both charge a monthly fee. All other account holders will be able to get the service for £2.50 per month, while student account holders will be able to get mobile services free until October 2009.

However, all Lloyds customers will be able to receive a weekly balance text message and overseas transaction alerts, warning them when withdrawals have been made from their accounts in other countries, for free.

Other services, which some account holders will have to pay for, include the option to set up high and low balance alerts to their phones, to let them know when they are nearing their overdraft limit or when they have enough money to transfer into a savings account.

However there are no plans to introduce an option for customers to set up standing orders, direct debits or make payments into other people's bank accounts on their mobiles. According to Lloyds TSB internet director Ashley Machin, the decision not to offer these services was made on customer demand, rather than any security concerns.

The service is being run in collaboration with mobile finance network Monilink, the joint venture between banking and payments company Monitise and VocaLink, the operator of the UK ATM network.

Security of the service is underpinned by layers of encryption at the device and carrier end, which is audited every quarter. At the back end, the service runs over the VocaLink network, which is already widely used by retail banks for transactions.

Once the customer has registered with the Lloyds TSB internet banking service, they will be able to access the service through a PIN, as they would at an ATM, and are not asked for any personal details.

Machin said: "Sixty per cent of our customers want to get texts about their money using a mobile phone and over 50 per cent want to be able to move money between accounts using their mobiles. We believe there is a demand for this service because mobile phones have become an integral way of how people want to manage their lives."