Telefónica Germany to launch O2’s first mobile bank account

By Banking Tech

Telefónica Germany, in association with Fidor Bank, will be launching its mobile banking offering, “O2 Banking”, in Germany in late summer 2016 – writes Banking Technology.

Matthias Kröner, CEO of Fidor Bank, says the collaboration offers “the best of two digital worlds”. Namely, banking services via a mobile app and additional services from an O2 mobile contract.

Fidor says it will take a “few minutes” to open an O2 bank account – and it’s all done online.

The identity check is via a video link using a smartphone. To transfer money, customers have to enter the mobile phone number of the recipient in the address book and select it for a transaction.

The bank says the security standards for O2 Banking are the same as for a “normal” current account.

The O2 Banking MasterCard can be activated or deactivated directly at any time via the app, and the card details can be presented for online shopping, without having the physical card in hand.

A financial planning tool gives customers an overview of their spending and on request they can be notified in real-time of transactions and events by app push messages sent to their smartphone. Smaller consumer loans will be available directly via the app.

O2 phone contract holders will “also benefit from a variety of perks and add-ons” when using O2 Banking, such as increased data allowances.

Licence driving

Fidor says its banking licence allows companies to offer digital banking to their customers without having to attain their own permit.

It provides a banking licence that is valid throughout Europe, along with individual customer, card and transaction services.

Fidor’s technology runs on a proprietary cloud-based infrastructure called the “Fidor Operating System” (FOS).

FOS is a modular program that includes communications platforms for direct interactions with customers via web or mobile apps, data analysis, customer loyalty programmes, forecasting models, payment solutions, banking, community solutions, content management systems, and more.