| Electronic banking is gradually becoming more popular among Greek consumers, although in terms of e-banking Greece is far from the so-called "mature" markets of the EU. The positive reception of e-banking by Greek consumers , anything but has escaped the attention of the banks themselves, which, not only have invested a lot in this sector, but continue, in the midst of a crisis, to strengthen their movements in the field of electronic banking. Next step for banks and consumers is the evolution of the mobile phone, but also of tablets, into a digital wallet, through the so-called contactless transactions, on which developments should be expected from the autumn.
Already, the performance of Greek banks in the field of electronic banking to date is anything but negligible, a fact confirmed by data recently presented in the context of the Digital Banking Money Conference organized by the company Ethos Media. IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS An example is the National Bank, which sees the users of the i-bank Internet and Phone Banking services increasing at an annual rate of 20%, having already reached 600,000 registered users. Furthermore, 35,000 smartphone owners have "downloaded" the i-bank Mobile Banking application, while a total of around 45 million transactions worth 19 billion euros have been carried out through digital channels. According to what was reported at the conference by Mr. Giorgos Kametas, transaction banking specialist of the National Bank group, the experience from the operation of i-bank stores is extremely encouraging with more than 1 million visits in the first two years of operation, fifteenfold number of internet banking activations, more than 17,000 members in the i-bank store club. EMPHASIS ON THE UNCONTACTABLE A pioneer in electronic banking for the Greek market is Eurobank, which, in collaboration with Mastercard, has launched cards through which contactless transactions are possible. The Bank is even preparing to start issuing corresponding credit cards from September, in collaboration with Visa, while in May it launched the first Mastercard mini credit cards for contactless transactions that are placed on the back of a mobile phone. According to what the deputy general manager of Eurobank, Mr. Tasos Panousis, said at the conference, today there are 45,000 contactless transaction cards in circulation in the Greek market, with the aim of reaching 80,000 by the end of 2013. These cards can be used in 1,000 terminals in large urban centers, a number which, by the end of the year, may reach 3,000 terminals. Eurobank's goal is to penetrate markets where until now the use of cash dominates, such as tolls, kiosks, cafes and public transport. ADVANTAGES Contactless payments, currently carried out in 51 countries internationally and in 27 countries in Europe, involve payments by card, no longer requiring the placement of the plastic in the terminal in order to complete the transaction, with the turnover of contactless transactions increasing by 400% in one year. We remind you that with contactless transactions, it is sufficient for the transactioner to bring his card close to the terminal and the transaction is completed in just 5 seconds, while with "traditional" payment cards, a transaction is completed in approximately 27 seconds. The advantages include the greater convenience for transactions that are currently done with "small change", the saving of time and above all the reduction of cash management costs (this cost is equal to 2.5% of the total turnover of merchants). ENHANCING PRESENCE Citi also claims to expand its presence in the domestic e-banking market, whose online customers already number around 200,000. The five e-Corners, which already operate in Athens and Thessaloniki, function as a "pilot" for Citi's more active presence in electronic banking. e-Corners are state-of-the-art workplaces, created by Citibank in its stores, following the "shop-in-shop" logic. In the first ten months of their operation, e-Corners have carried out 10,000 customer trainings, while around 8,000 registrations have been made to Citi's online banking services. The goal is for the number to reach 1,000 monthly, while the bank plans to expand the network of e-Corners gradually and according to the interest that will be expressed. Today, of the bank's 700,000 customers in the Greek market, one third are signed up for online services. In fact, Citi's e-banking users in Greece are four times more than three years ago (of which 72% are men and 28% are women). The most popular online banking transactions are money transfers, balance checks, bill payments, and credit card payments. Research on the use of e-banking services From a survey presented by the company Pollfish – which was however conducted on a small sample of 300 smartphone users – 1 in 2 answered that they use e-banking services. The main use is to update and pay bills, while 8 out of 10 answered that they carry out less than 10 transactions per month. 90% of those who use e-banking services said they were satisfied, while 70% of those who did not use it claimed that they were not interested in using it in the future. Mobile banking services are used by only 3 out of 10 respondents and only 1 out of 10 of them 30% makes more than 10 transactions per month. However, 80% of those who use such services said they were satisfied with their experience.
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