MONILINK, the UK mobile banking and payments network, today announced that UK consumers can now set-up and receive text alerts informing them of the status of their accounts on a regular basis, as well as when their account is close to predefined limits or when payments are received. Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank have announced they will be the first participating banks to offer the new service.

The service has been developed through close collaboration between the banking and mobile industries in order to meet the consumer, industry and regulatory demands for improved financial access. By using the ubiquity of SMS alerts, it ensures that all consumers can stay up to date with their money by simply carrying a mobile phone. With 52 million mobile phone owners in the UK, the announcement signifies the introduction of the most accessible banking service ever introduced.

Will Jones, Head of Delivery for Innovation at The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, said: “Our objective is to provide excellent service to our customers and offer them a choice in how they manage their money. It’s estimated that over a million consumers are already using their mobile phones to keep up to date with their money, which makes it one of the most popular ways to bank in the UK.

The introduction of text alerts means that our customers will now have the ability to set up alerts that notify them of the status of their accounts, and even set the limit that triggers the alert themselves.

We think the alerts will be a really valuable tool for those customers who want to keep a tight rein on their finances, and, in particular, we think people will really appreciate the opportunity to set their own flexible limits.”

Andrew Harrison, UK chief executive, Carphone Warehouse added: ““Banking is one of life’s essential activities and money savvy Brits already take a close interest in the state of money from day to day. As the UK’s largest retailer of mobile communications services, we are committed to helping our customers to manage their lives better by using clever services on their mobile. By combining trigger alerts with an ‘at their fingertips’ remote control is the perfect example of how the mobile industry is working with the UK’s leading high street banks to make sure that people’s money is, quite literally, always 'at hand'.”

Alastair Lukies, Chief Executive, MONILINK concluded: “The mobile phone has changed the way that consumers receive information, whether that is important business correspondence or the latest football score. Text alerts are the perfect medium to keep bank customers actively up to date with their money and allow them to make sure their money is working hard for them by prompting them in those moments when action is required. It keeps them in control, wherever they are 24/7.”

Monitise enables BlackBerry smartphone users to bank and pay on the move

Monitise plc [MONI.L] today announced that the MONILINK mobile banking and payments service is now available* on BlackBerry® smartphones**. The service, which is currently used by customers of the UK's leading banks, including HSBC, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, first direct, Alliance & Leicester and Ulster Bank, across all major network operators, allows consumers and business people to keep track of their money while on the move, using a combination of an intuitive, secure application on the handset and SMS alerts.

The extension of mobile banking and payment services to BlackBerry® smartphones demonstrates the growing demand for mobile money management from the UK's businesspeople and the growing centrality of BlackBerry devices in the daily lives of both consumers and business leaders across the globe. In today's busy world, being able to manage your bank accounts alongside email and other essential business information is important for many people. For those that run their own businesses, it's absolutely business critical.

Ian Tandy, Director of eCommerce, Alliance & Leicester commented: "We are committed to providing the best possible service to our customers and this includes providing them with the widest choice of options when it comes to managing their money. Our customers already benefit from being able to use their mobile phones to keep track of their bank accounts and the extension of the service to BlackBerry devices will enable even more of our customers, especially those who bank with Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, to monitor their cash flow whilst on the move anywhere in the world".

The announcement is another example of Monitise's commitment to bringing mobile banking and payments to the mass market of consumers at any time, from any location, using any device. Around half of all UK consumers have access to their bank accounts using its award winning range of services. In the coming months, Monitise expects to announce the availability of its services in other territories across the world, as well as the introduction of a range of new services, including inter-account transfers, peer to peer payments, bill settlement, international remittances and contactless (Near Field Communication) payments.

The BlackBerry solution puts the convenience of email, phone, messaging (SMS, IM, MMS), web browsing, multimedia, organiser and other applications literally in the palm of your hand. Now with Monitise's technology, it can also add banking services such as balance inquiries, funds transfers, mini-statements and text message alerts to that roster. The MONILINK service, which is delivered in the UK by in partnership with VocaLink, the operator of the UK's ATM network, ensures that all information carried is highly secure through the use of existing banking security standards throughout its service.

"The BlackBerry smartphone is often cited as the handset of choice for the world's business people and busy consumers. Bringing mobile banking and payments to the device cements BlackBerry's position as a leader and creates a truly ‘business critical' combination of services which will help improve the productivity and efficient working of many people," added Alastair Lukies, chief executive, Monitise plc.

* The service is available to personal BlackBerry customers and to Enterprise customers that have direct access to the internet from their handset and have the administrative rights to download and install applications from the internet.

** MONILINK is available on the BlackBerry 7100, 7130, 7210, 7220, 7230, 7250, 7280, 7290, 7510, 7520, 7730, 7750, 7780, 8100, 8300, 8320, 8700 and 8800.

The MONILINK service enables consumers to check the balance of their accounts, request mini statements and top-up pre-pay mobile phones directly form their bank sccounts from almost any location in the world. This secure service is protected by a personal passcode any any information displayed on the phone is automatically deleted. No personal details are stored on the handset itself, ensuring that information remains completely secure, even if the handset is lost or stolen.

Alastair Lukies, CEO of Monitise, said: "Mobile banking and payments is one of the fastest growing markets globally and the UK is leading the way in this area, becoming a global showcase for what can be offered to consumers in terms of both service and security. The MONILINK service puts the consumer first by bringing banks and mobile operators togther to work collaboratively."

Who'd have thought it? Young people buying stuff. And wanting it to be fashionable? I bet those people who say that the three million surveys that come out each week are inane publicity-seeking devices which state the obvious feel pretty stupid now.

It might only be an hour or so away from the organised chaos of the City of London but it feels much more remote. From this quiet retreat, though, a revolution has been painstakingly planned over the last year. And this week we will find out if the lead protagonist, Marion King, has been successful.

King is chief executive of VocaLink, the £500m company formed last year through the merger of the Bacs payment group and the Link cash machine network. The amalgamated group runs 60,000 ATMs with over 105 million card customers, processing something like three billion transactions annually. On a daily basis, it settles around £430m worth of payments.

VocaLink handles the bulk of Britain's electronic money transfers and is the key player behind Faster Payments, a new service that should radically change the payments landscape in Britain.

The project is the banking industry's much-anticipated response to government concerns over the slow speed of the UK's payment-processing system, where three-day transfers have remained the norm for decades.

"Faster Payments is a major move forward and people will really feel it," says King. "But it's a competitive arena and the products launched by each and every bank on the back of the changes will be different. It won't be uniform." Her caution is understandable given the false starts and delays that have hindered the project since its inception. However, if the banks do their bit, a step change is just days away.

If you had wanted to sell your car in the past, for example, you would have had to wait for the cash from the buyer to land in your account before you could do the deal. Under Faster Payments, theoretically, the buyer can transfer cash to the seller via their mobile phone pretty much instantaneously.

However, standing order payments will continue to be pro- cessed on the three-day Bacs cycle.

Faster Payments should also put an end to consumer gripes about banks profiteering from the slow movement of cash between accounts. "It's really a myth that banks make vast sums of money out of the float [three- day turnaround]," says King. "They never have."

King, of course, has a vested interest in keeping the banks happy. They are both her customers and her backers at VocaLink. Some 21 institutions, including Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays, have stakes, though she points out that ownership of the group is just weeks away from a change.

Last month, advisers were hired to sell a minority stake in the company – a move she feels is vital to VocaLink's long- term strategy. "I imagine we'll have something done by the end of June," says a cagey King, who refuses even to disclose the name of any adviser. "We're looking at a different type of international investor that will allow us to develop our European operations."

Talk of a public listing is something King admits has been discussed, but "it's five years or so away at least".

The scramble for the European payments landscape is likely to dominate King's time for some time to come. She is days away from securing a deal with Scandinavian group BGC to process the vast majority of Sweden's automated payments. EU legislation means that the currently fragmented arena is likely to be transformed into a terrain ripe for consolidation.

VocaLink might enjoy a near- monopoly status in Britain but new initiatives are already in train. "We are the biggest ATM operator in Britain and Europe and we have some interesting plans," says King. "We are looking at offering foreign exchange capabilities to some machines, while deposit options will also be increased."

Through VocaLink's Monilink joint venture with mobile banking firm Monitise, King is also pushing the "The Bank in your Pocket" concept, where online banking processes are fully available on cellphones. Alliance & Leicester is already heavily involved in the project.

"The move away from the cheque is gathering pace," says King. "The Netherlands got rid of it and it will slowly fade in Britain too. From the banks' perspective, Monilink moves customers away from the paper-led, expensive model to a platform they are likely to prefer."

She agrees that the success of such ventures is linked to security: "We aren't saying this isn't a huge leap – it will take time. Security and issues around identification are the key, and we won't compromise on these."

She knows how to say the right things. Fourteen years at Reuters, where she ran the information group's Asian Bureau, served her well. Maybe a brush with the visiting Bill Clinton during her time in China also rubbed off.

"The key for VocaLink is that we never fail on a payment, and throughout our history we never have," trumpets King.

The Faster Payments rollout this week could lead to grander boasts. But for the moment, King and her banking paymasters will just breathe a sigh of relief if the new system goes without a glitch.

After qualifying as a public accountant for Luton Council, King joined Lloyd's & Scottish selling finace to the motor trade, working in a number of roles before going to motor dealer HR Owen, where she launched a new car-finance scheme.

1985-86: sales executive, Quotron – a firm supplying information systems to financial institutions such as the New York Stock Exchange.

1986-2000: managing director of Reuters' business information service, Factiva. Later became managing director for the company's East Asian operation.

2000-02: founded People PC, supplying internet-ready computers to companies wishing to provide the machines as employee benefits.

2002-present: chief executive of Bacs and than VocaLink following last year's merger.

Who'd have thought it? Young people buying stuff. And wanting it to be fashionable? I bet those people who say that the three million surveys that come out each week are inane publicity-seeking devices which state the obvious feel pretty stupid now.

The shock study found that 71 per cent 16 to 34 year olds admit to secretly competing with their friends in the purchase of luxury products such as cosmetics, gadgets and clothes.Driving bling-itis are image concerns, according to the survey by mobile banking service MONILINK. Over half (56 per cent) of Britons believe people are judged on appearances and possessions in modern British society, rather than personality. The spending trend also appears to be leading Britons to problematic levels of spending. Young people said 22 per cent have so much debt from non-essential spending that repayments are a significant strain. While 62 per cent are still paying off credit card debts from luxury purchases bought from 2006/7. Shockingly 43 per cent have no savings at all. But with many of the UK’s leading banks now offering mobile banking services free of charge through Monilink, consumers have more access to their finances than ever before. And experts are calling for consumers to take corrective action before it’s too late. Personal Finance Writer and Broadcaster, Cliff D’Arcy, said: Britons aged 16 to 34 are obsessed with image.

The new mobile phone banking service will enable small business customers to check the balance of their accounts, request mini-statements and even top-up pre-pay mobile phones directly from their bank accounts, safely and securely - whenever they want and wherever they are in the world.

The expansion of the MONILINK service, which was rolled out to Alliance & Leicester's personal current account customers in January 2007, illustrates the bank's commitment to customer service innovation for all its customers. In particular, it will provide business customers, especially those who don't work from a fixed location, with the ability always to know if they have been paid, when a cheque has cleared, or if an upcoming payment is due.

This secure service is protected by a personal passcode and any information displayed on the phone is automatically deleted. No personal details are stored on the handset itself, ensuring that information remains completely secure, even if the handset is lost or stolen.

Steve Jennings, Director of Business Banking at Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank said: "Our new mobile phone banking service is the natural next step, complementing our award winning business current account products perfectly. Small business owners are understandably focused on building their businesses, and therefore, convenience is key to helping them to manage their finances."

Jennings adds: "Our customers will have the facility of being able to access the new service and receive up to date information on their business account at a time which suits them and the needs of their business. Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank already offers internet and telephone banking and our customers are able to carry out their everyday banking transactions at any of our branches or via the 14,000 UK Post Offices ^© ."

The service is available immediately and will be free for Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank customers until 31 August 2008. From 1 September 2008 a set monthly fee of just £1.50 will apply, allowing customers access to the service as many times they wish each month. To start using this service, existing customers simply register their details via www.alliance-leicestercommercialbank.co.uk/mobile .

John Milliken, Managing Director, MONILINK added: "Most business people are out and about running their businesses during the day, which can sometimes make it difficult to keep track of their accounts. However, the mobile phone is the one thing that is always with them, making it the perfect device for them to keep up to date with their money, from seeing if that cheque has gone out, to checking if that last customer invoice has been paid.

"Alliance & Leicester was one of the first banks in the UK to offer mobile banking, extending the service to their business customers is an example of their dedication to customer service. In the near future, I firmly believe that, all banks will follow Alliance & Leicester in offering mobile phone banking as an essential feature to all their customers."

Steve Jennings continues: "Since its launch in January 2007, the MONILINK service has proved to be very popular with Alliance & Leicester's personal current account customers. This extension of the service to our business banking customers is partly due to the popularity and feedback that we have received from our customers who already use the service."

For further information on Alliance & Leicester's Commercial Banking services and details of the MONILINK service, business owners should call 0800 587 0800, or visit http://www.alliance-leicestercommercialbank.co.uk/ .

Who'd have thought it? Young people buying stuff. And wanting it to be fashionable? I bet those people who say that the three million surveys that come out each week are inane publicity-seeking devices which state the obvious feel pretty stupid now.

Because Monilink - for this is the name of the mobile banking service behind this groundbreaking stuff - has more where that came from. Apparently, more women are concerned about image than men and the “top areas of spending by 16 to 34-year-olds” are holidays (27 per cent), drinking and going out (21 per cent), clothes (19 per cent), gadgets (12 per cent), home improvement (10 per cent), cars (8 per cent) and jewellery (3 per cent). I haven't felt so stunned since the survey that revealed that children's favourite foods are chips and ice-cream.

But at least they have come up with a name for all this. “Bling-itis” is defined as being concerned about public image, valuing short-term luxury over longer-term financial security, and associating spending with personal happiness. So that'll be everyone under 40, then.

Here's an interesting finding, though: almost a quarter of young people check their bank balance only once a month, often going overdrawn and clocking up charges. But help is at hand. They can now check their balances on their mobile phones by downloading - you've guessed it! - the Monilink mobile banking service at www.monilink.co.uk. Because that's just what we need, isn't it? Another reason for the younger generation to stare gormlessly into their phone screens.

Three-quarters of people aged 16 to 34 are splashing out on the latest must-haves without knowing if they have money in the bank to pay for them.

Nicknamed ‘blingorexics’, one in three admit to having sleepless nights over their finances, and 62 per cent are still paying off debts from purchases made last year.

MONILINK and Monitise are pleased to announce that they have won the Most Innovative New Product category in Banking Technology magazine's inaugural Readers' Choice Awards.

Already used by thousands of consumers throughout the UK, MONILINK allows bank customers to keep a check on their accounts and 'top-up' pre-paid mobile phones directly from their handset. The service is available with many of the UK's banks, including Alliance & Leicester, first direct, HSBC, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, as well as all the major UK mobile operators, meaning that over one in three current account holders can now use MONILINK to keep in touch with their money at all times.

The Readers' Choice Awards were created to recognise the fact that financial institutions are increasingly turning to independent software providers in search of solutions to a range of issues that would once have meant an expensive bespoke development. This year, for the first time, Banking Technology's readers were asked to vote for their choice of what they consider to be the best systems in a range of categories.

Votes were cast through a web-based system. In some categories, the margins were very tight, while others showed runaway winners almost from the start of voting.

"We have been delighted by the response from readers, which exceeded our expectations," said David Bannister, editor of Banking Technology. "The companies that won in these categories can be justifiably proud that their products and services are known and recognised in the wider market and I congratulate all of those whose customers and users went out of their way to cast votes."