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By Iain Withers and Sinead Cruise
LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - British banking heavyweights HSBC
and RBS are launching new digital banking
platforms, as competition for digitally savvy customers steps up
in the face of a wave of online startups.
HSBC rolled out a new app-based business banking service -
previously known internally as 'Project Iceberg' and now named
'HSBC Kinetic' - in beta testing mode on Monday, while RBS is
putting the finishing touches to its new digital bank Bo ahead
of a public roll-out later this month.
Britain's high street lenders are investing billions of
pounds in new or refreshed digital services to meet growing
customer demand. But they are playing catch-up when it comes to
matching the technology of fast-growing startups like Monzo,
Starling and Tandem.
HSBC Kinetic will offer small businesses mobile-managed
current accounts, overdrafts and spending and cashflow insights
generated by the app crunching data on a company's spending
habits.
Peter McIntyre, head of UK small business banking for HSBC,
said the bank hoped to sign up hundreds of thousands of
customers to Kinetic and to roll it out to other countries where
HSBC operates.
The service has been developed by around 150 staff in London
working away from HSBC's Canary Wharf corporate headquarters.
McIntyre said he was undeterred by launching Kinetic in
choppy economic conditions in Britain, with recent official data
showing company insolvencies hit a five and a half-year high in
the third quarter this year.
"I think this is the best time to do it, to bring more
financial insight to customers at a difficult time," he said.
A full launch of the service, which links into HSBC's
existing back-end banking system, is expected in the first half
of next year.
RBS's standalone bank Bo is preparing for a public launch
this month from offices in London's West End.
The Bo app is designed to encourage customers to budget and
save better, alerting them if they overspend.
It is targeted at the 16.8 million Britons with less than
100 pounds ($128)of savings.
RBS hopes it will bring in lower cost deposits than the
bank's main retail brands as it is built on a leaner banking
platform, with an estimated cost per consumer of 80 pounds a
year, rather than 150-200 pounds at RBS.
($1 = 0.7815 pounds)
(Reporting by Iain Withers and Sinead Cruise; Editing by Mark
Potter)
