The times when we could conduct banking operations exclusively at a bank counter are long gone. The first major change in this area was the introduction of ATMs. These made it possible to perform the selected services at any time, even outside the bank's working hours. But we still had to get to the ATM. The next step in the evolution of modern banking was brought by the Internet, which saw the introduction of online banking.
The latter enabled users to provide services not only at any time, but also wherever the user had access to a computer and an Internet connection. Despite the fact that this type of online banking was infinitely more user-friendly than a classic visit to a branch or an ATM, it had certain limitations. Since the user needed a personal computer and the Internet, he could not take care of banking services, such as paying a money order, outside his home. But even that changed with the advent of mobile phones and, as a result, the world mobile banking.
Mobile banking in Slovenia
Abroad, mobile banking, which enables the provision of banking services on smart mobile devices, has been present for more than a decade, but in our country experienced a boom among users in 2015. Since then, the popularity of using mobile banks in Slovenia has grown rapidly. If mobile banking in Slovenia used something in 2015 less than 210,000 natural and legal persons, at the end of the third quarter of 2020, the number of mobile banking users in Slovenia was already almost 950,000. Even faster development and more frequent use of digital channels in the last year is certainly also the result of the covid-19 pandemic. Deloitte's research on the digital capabilities and preparedness of the banking sector revealed that globally during the pandemic, as many as 60 percent of banks closed or shortened branch opening hours, and many introduced new digital functions (e.g. opening accounts without visiting a bank branch, remote identification verification and remote signing of documents in the cloud).
The spread of mobile banking in Slovenia will only continue to grow in the future, and if it is true that the majority of the elderly in our country still think about money in a traditional way, the young and middle-aged active population already think differently. Which is also confirmed by the fact that it is in Slovenia among teenagers and students, there are already more users of mobile than online banks.
Mobile banking services
It is true that the functionalities differ from provider to provider, but generally speaking, mobile banking today already enables the following services:
- transaction accounts: checking balances on all accounts; traffic inspection; insight into the queue and the possibility of canceling the order; review of rejected orders, insight into account details,
- payment cards: checking balances on all payment cards; inspection of the waiting room and inspection of traffic, insight into card details,
- review of data on concluded deposits (balance, date of release, graphical display of duration...)
- review of data on concluded credits (status, duration and graphic display of duration, amount of overdue unpaid obligations...) and the possibility of quick installment payment,
- payment by entering a universal payment order,
- fast execution of payments by scanning the receipts,
- easy and quick payment of bills via a saved payment template,
- internal transfers, transfers to other banks,
- sale, purchase of foreign exchange,
- display of ATMs near the user's current location or display of ATMs near the selected location,
- notification of rejected payments, news, offers, general conditions and special campaigns,
- useful information: valid exchange rate list of the bank, contact information of the bank, etc.
In addition to the listed services, some banks also offer somewhat more demanding mobile banking services, which many still believe cannot be concluded without visiting a bank branch. This is possible, for example, in the mobile bank Klikin users completely without visiting a branch they also take out a quick loan, submit an order for services and all documents that would otherwise have to be signed in a bank branch, they sign right inside the Klikin mobile bank.
Advantages and disadvantages of mobile banking
Among the main advantages of mobile banking are: convenience, accessibility and functionality. Mobile banking is always at hand on your smartphone, so you can perform banking services anywhere and at any time. Which saves you both time and money. On the other hand, the absence of physical branches and, as a result, bank employees can be a problem for those who are used to a personal approach when conducting banking transactions or who need a banking expert for advice. And this very problem was solved extremely innovatively in bank NLB.
Meet the first analog mobile bank branch on four wheels: NLB Bank&Go Mobile Branch!
V NLB, which is one of the pioneers of online as well as mobile banking in our country, came up with an innovative solution with which they want to "kill two birds with one stone". Theirs bank on four wheels will thus, on the one hand, enable people in smaller Slovenian towns where there are no bank branches to have uninterrupted business and personal contact with a bank employee, and on the other hand, within the framework of the project, they want to educate customers in the field of services mobile banking. That in the future they will be able to perform more and more services independently - via the Internet or their smartphones.
