HSBC Brings Free Wi-Fi To 650 UK Branches, Promotes Mobile Banking

HSBC has installed free Wi-Fi in 650 of its UK branches in an effort to help its customers access online and mobile banking services.

The hotspots are powered by BT Wi-Fi and the deployment follows research conducted by BT and Avaya, which shows that 49 percent of banking customers felt free Wi-Fi would improve their in-branch experience.

HSBC Wi-Fi

HSBC says customers can use the service to browse the web, or download the HSBC mobile banking app to their smartphone. It adds that users can also test out the application before they download it, with members of staff on-hand to guide them through the various features.

The bank says that £2 million worth of payments and transfers have been made using its banking application and that the service handles one million logins each week.

“We’ve been listening to our customers about how we can make banking easier for them, and they tell us they like the idea of mobile banking, but in some cases would value being shown how it works,” says Carl Howard, head of digital for HSBC in the UK. “Our branch staff can now demo our Mobile Banking app in branch to get people started, as well as demonstrating new features such as the new mobile payment service Paym which allows customers to pay their contacts using just a mobile number.”

Meanwhile Paym, a service launched last month by The Payments Council, ties a user’s phone number to a nominated current account. It is being touted as an easy way to transfer money, especially for informal loans among friends and family.

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