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.

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."

And despite growing fears about identity fraud, only 13 per cent of Scots polled worry about illegal withdrawals from their account.

The survey comes after personal details of hundreds of thousands of Scots were lost in Britain's worst data protection breach.

The "catastrophic" loss of two discs by Customs means nearly half the population are at risk of identity fraud.

A quarter of people polled stated that their knowledge of their bank balance was poor while 13 per cent said they knew more about celebrity and sport trivia than their bank balance.

The study, by mobile banking service MONILINK, found one in five check their balance once a month and 16 per cent are afraid to check their balance.

The lack of money management is thought to be behind to the growth of Scots' debts and overdrafts.

Only 14 per cent said they would immediately spot a grand had vanished.

Most people don't check accounts often enough to see if they are identity fraud victims - a big worry in the latest scandal. Customers quizzed said they just forgot to look or were scared to see how in the red they were. It means about £43BILLION is in accounts unchecked. The poll was carried out by MONILINK, a mobile phone service linked to banks. A spokesman said: "Consumers need all the help they can get to keep tabs on their money. 'Finance phobia' is worrying."

MONILINK the UK mobile banking network currently used by customers of HSBC, first direct and Alliance & Leicester, and soon, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank, announced today that it will reward registered users of its service by randomly selecting one customer, every day for the next 25 days, to receive £100 cash!! The mobile banking service, now free of charge until the end of 2007, allows customers to check their balance, recent transactions and top up pre-pay mobile phone credit directly from their handset.

To be eligible to win, just use or register your interest for MONILINK over the next 25 days. Every day between Tuesday 14th August and Friday 7th September, one customer will have £100 credited straight into their MONILINK registered bank account. Both existing and new customers that use the service before 5th September will be able to win.

In the coming months MONILINK will allow consumers to do even more from their mobile, including the ability to transfer money between accounts and to check on their savings or mortgage balances.

Alastair Lukies, chief executive, MONILINK said "We are seeing massive interest in mobile banking and payments with thousands of people using our service every day, completely free of charge, to manage their money better. As we celebrate this milestone I would urge every one of them to keep a close eye on their accounts over the next 25 days. They might just find that their next night out is on us."

"We've had great feedback from our participating banks, with everyone from students to pensioners now relying on MONILINK to keep them in touch and feeling more in control of their finances. It's with this confidence that we look forward to helping people to achieve more from their mobile over the coming months"

Welcoming the news, Andrew Harrison, CEO of Carphone Warehouse commented "Consumers are increasingly seeing the benefits of the mobile device as an access point to key information sources and lifestyle applications. By working collaboratively with the industry, MONILINK has put the consumer first in mobile banking. The service is simple to use and is already proving popular with people who like to feel in control of their financial information."

Active customers of HSBC, first direct and Alliance & Leicester, and customers of Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank registering for the service, are all eligible. If you want to join them by downloading MONILINK to your phone, simply visit www.monilink.co.uk

RBS and NatWest customers signing up to the new service will be able to access their account balance and view mini-statements on their mobile phone. They can also top up any mobile pre-pay phone and receive SMS balance alerts.

"Our focus is on providing excellent service to our customers and offering them a choice in how they manage their money. Mobile phone banking will give people another easy way to access account information and even greater flexibility in managing their money at any time," said Paul Geddes, CEO of RBSG Consumer Banking.

"No matter where someone is they can check the balance of their account. Being able to view mini-statements will show when payments have either gone into or out of the account. This enables people to manage their accounts when and where they want, even when outside of the UK".

The service is secure as data is not held on the customers' phone and only a handset that is linked to the account can be used to access account information. The software is free and there is no monthly or annual fee but there may be a data charge from some network operators.

RBS plan to add extra services including making payments and moving money between accounts. This will be available to all current and savings accounts which have a debit card.

"We're sure this service will be popular, particularly with young people such as students whose phones are central to their lives and also want the easiest way to keep track of their money. Most 18 - 25 year olds always have their mobile phone on them so, as well as texting, taking photos and listening to music they'll be able to mange their money 24/7 too," said Paul Geddes.

The service will be provided by MONILINK which is a joint venture between VocaLINK, the operator of the UK ATM network, and Monitise Plc.

Customers of HSBC, First Direct and Alliance & Leicester will be able to make balance inquiries, view mini-statements and top up mobile phones. Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Coutts, Tesco Personal Finance and Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland plan to introduce the service later this year.

Although the initial target is retail banking customers, MONILINK™ sees potential applications in other parts of the world where it is working on share dealing and private portfolio management, on the corporate side. MONILINK™ also plans to expand the functionality in the "very near future" by launching the ability to move money between accounts, and also make day-to-day payments.

MONILINK™ has launched a six month trial period where the service is free to everyone in the ecosystem - mobile operators, banks and consumers - to ensure a rapid uptake. "Together with our banking and mobile network partners we have set ourselves a target of overtaking internet banking growth in its early days. Internet banking has now levelled off at 20-25% of the population and that took about five to six years - we hope to do it in three years," said Alastair Lukies, chief executive of MONILINK™.

That's good news if you can't be bothered queuing on a Saturday morning, but there's still the queue for the cashpoint to consider. Vodafone customers can use the Vodafone Internet on Your Mobile service via a secure application to check their balances, request a mini-statement and top up handsets.

The MONILINK™ service is available (initially) for free for customers of HSBC, First Direct and Alliance & Leicester. Later this summer, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank will be added. The MONILINK™ service has been developed by mobile banking specialist Monitise and VocaLink - the company behind the UK's ATM network.

SURROUNDED by fresh-faced young people, Gordon Brown was sharing a platform with Queen Rania of Jordan, to talk about the "wisdom of youth". She looked fresh faced enough, while the chancellor had the traditional bags under his eyes.

At another event, a lunch for British business leaders, the Duke of York was struggling to stay awake during a speech by Alistair Darling, the trade and industry secretary. Many will sympathise, and in Prince Andrew's case he could plead that this was not his normal line of work.

Davos, the annual gathering in the Swiss mountains, throws together odd partnerships. It also, in time, makes the odd seem normal. Not so long ago, people would have been astonished to see a British prime minister sharing a platform with a rock star and software billionaire. Margaret Thatcher would never have done it.

Now nobody bats an eyelid when Tony Blair takes to the stage with Bono and Bill Gates.

It is easy to be cynical about the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. Like the G8 world economic summits, which started life as "fireside" discussions about the global economy, Davos, also dating back to the turbulent 1970s, has become a big, sprawling event with a big, sprawling agenda.

A recent report from the United Nations University calculated that 2% of the world's individuals controlled 50% of global wealth. Many of those individuals, and quite a lot of that wealth, have been on show in this Swiss ski resort in the past few years. A ban on fur, diamonds or four-wheel-drive limos would go down like a lead balloon when the world's movers and shakers are in town.

The forum, which has the motto, "committed to improving the state of the world", had plenty on its formal agenda about lifting poor countries out of poverty, improving health systems in developing countries, tackling inequality and living in a multicultural world. There is more to it than the clink of cocktail glasses.

But perhaps there was unintended irony in the description the organisers gave to the event, which was to face up to the challenge of living in "an increasingly schizophrenic world".

Davos is also a good guide to who is up or down, and not only in business. Lord Browne, BP's chief executive, was to play a major role in the forum when the programme was drawn up in the autumn. But events intervened and it may have been more than just the flu that led to his decision not to make the trip this year.

Others, however, have fared even worse. January is a favourite time for corporate culls. Todd Thomson, heir apparent to succeed Chuck Prince as chief executive of Citigroup, the world's largest financial-services firm, was sacked even as he was packing for the trip to the Alps. As we report in today's front page story, he was said to have been brought down by his extravagant corporate lifestyle, such as providing a journey from China to America on the company jet for Maria Bartiromo, the CNBC financial presenter. Bartiromo, known as the "money honey", was nevertheless much in evidence at Davos.

So were plenty of British politicians. Under Labour, Davos has sometimes struggled to attract senior government figures. This year it got not only the prime minister, who gave his swansong performance, but also Brown, his likely successor.

It may, too, have got the next prime minister after Brown. David Cameron, who a year ago was fresh in the job of Tory leader, made his debut on panels tackling climate change and terrorism. Three other ministers were there, perhaps to keep an eye on him -Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, David Miliband, environment secretary, and Darling.

What did the 2,500 business leaders, politicians, academics and media folk get in return for their efforts? In some ways this was a large event in search of a theme. "I don't really know what's going on here, and I'm hoping somebody will tell me," said Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI. "Everybody is extremely confident about the world economy, though I did notice that a session on (mental) depression was pretty well booked up."

Confidence about the world economy is tangible, even alarming. This year much of the angst about global imbalances and the sustainability of a world upturn reliant on America has evaporated. The rise of China and India, once a source of wonderment, is now regarded as part of the furniture. If this is an example of pride coming before the fall, there is plenty such pride around. Maybe this meeting will go down as the World Economic Forum's most complacent.

Or maybe not; the International Monetary Fund, after all, says the global economy is enjoying its strongest sustained run of economic growth since the second world war.

The men and women who run the world's top businesses appear to know that in their bones. But that does not stop them fretting about things. The forum offered a platform to Brazil's President Lula da Silva, although it has not yet found a place for Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. The rise of regimes that challenge globalisation is a concern for some. "The thing we worry about is rising populism and protectionism, particularly in Latin America but also in places such as Thailand," said Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, the marketing services company.

One of the backdrops to this year's forum was an attempt to kickstart the stalled Doha round of world trade talks. The International Business Council consists of top executives from many of the world's leading companies, including Anglo American, British American Tobacco, Goldman Sachs, Coca-Cola, Reuters and Dell.

"The impasse with the Doha round threatens to undermine growth and the spread of economic opportunities to all," it said in a statement. "Trade is the most effective means we can offer to the members of the global community struggling to lift themselves out of poverty."

Brown said that statement by business leaders was a powerful signal to politicians engaged in the trade talks. "We will be judged harshly if we cannot move this forward," he said, backing calls for a meeting of political leaders -rather than just trade negotiators -to break the deadlock.

Darling agreed. "The price of failure would be colossal," he said. "It would be 10 years before we could come back to these talks." If the language is familiar, it is because the Doha stalemate has been going on so long. Begun in 2001, the warnings of the consequences of failure were just as loud at the Davos meeting a year ago.

But if business is uncertain about trade liberalisation, it appears to have bought in to climate change in a big way. This was supposed to have been the first "green" Davos, and in many ways global warming was the dominant theme. "I'm looking at this from my perspective, but this seems to have been the main issue," said Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, chairman of Easy Group. "I counted 17 sessions on climate change."

From the opening of the forum, when the German chancellor Angela Merkel called for "global responsibility" on climate change, covering governments, businesses and consumers, it was one of the key themes. She pointed out that the European Union accounts for only 15% of global carbon emissions and that share is set to decline.

What was less clear was what should be the solution. Stelios said that airlines were willing to take part in the European emissions-trading scheme but objected to what they see as tax raids dressed in green clothing -such as the doubling of UK air passenger duty, to take effect this week.

At one session, James Rogers, chairman of Duke Energy, an American firm, said the solution to global warming lay with nuclear power and "clean" coal technology, in which emissions are captured. But Vinod Khosla, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur, said the lead times for nuclear were too long, and that the world should invest much more in alternative energies such as solar power.

Sir Nicholas Stern, who recently wrote a report on the economics of climate change for the government, said the solution lay with setting the right global price for carbon emissions. But others said this would be arbitrary in its impact, distorting economies and trade.

Climate change will not go away, unlike some of the topics that have topped the Davos agenda in recent years. But if the World Economic Forum is a guide, the world is a long way from agreement on what to do about it. Businesses want to know, not only how they can stop their firms being harmed, but how they can make money out of taking action against global warming.

But many businessmen and women come just to meet others, and to learn. "The cynics say it is a talking shop, but the fact is that you have some of the best brains in the world getting together to try to sort out problems," said Alastair Lukies, the young chief executive of Monitise, a British technology firm.

The agreement with RBSG will mean that the MONILINK service will be available to the customers of all of RBSG's U.K. retail banking brands.

U.K. banks already offering the MONILINK(TM) service to their customers are HSBC and first direct. Other recent additions to the network include Alliance & Leicester who have recently begun to market the service to their customers.

The company said the launch of the service with RBSG will bring the number of consumers able to access the MONILINK service in the U.K. to over 30 million, some 35% of LINK's card base of 85 million.

In addition, the company said discussions are in progress with the other major participants in the U.K. banking sector and further announcements can be expected.

The company also said Thursday that T-Systems has acquired the rights to Monitise Limited's exclusive preferred partner agreement in Germany for an initial fee of EUR130,000 (10% of the annual license fee).

The company said it has received confirmation by independent advisers that the value of Monitise Group is significantly in excess of the capital committed to date to build the business. Investment in Monitise Group in the six months ended Dec. 31, 2006 was GBP2.9 million.

The company added that operating expenditure in Monitise Group is now running at GBP5 million in total for the six months to Jun. 30, 2007 which will be partially offset by revenue generated.

The Board of Morse said that core Morse, the Group's Advisory & Execution professional services firm, continues to trade in line with expectations.

Morse developed the network through mobileATM, a joint venture with Link Interchange Network, the operator of the Link ATM network. Morse commented that launching the service with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) would bring the number of consumers able to access the MONILINK™ service in the UK to over 30 million, equivalent to 35% of Link's 85 million strong card base.

Duncan McIntyre, chief executive of Morse, commented: "MONILINK™ in the UK is now well placed to become the industry platform in mobile banking and this platform is enabling us to also gain a market leading position in overseas territories."

Morse commented that Alliance and Leicester has recently started to market the service to its customers and that discussions are also in progress with other major players in the UK banking sector. It added that MONILINK™ is now developing more aggressive marketing plans with its banking and mobile network partners to accelerate consumer adoption in the UK.

Customers that register for the service will have on demand access to mini statements and balance enquiries from their mobile phone using MONILINK's secure application. The service is protected by a personal passcode and any information displayed is automatically deleted. No personal details are stored on the handset itself, ensuring that information remains secure, even if the handset is lost or stolen. Furthermore, customers with a pre-pay mobile phone account will also soon be able to top-up their mobile directly from their Alliance & Leicester bank account.

Ian Tandy, Director of eCommerce at Alliance & Leicester said: "The mobile phone is already a central tool in people's every day lives - we increasingly lead digital lifestyles with mobiles acting as the hub. Accessing banking details via a mobile phone is the next natural step, and one we think our current account customers will embrace. The service, which sits as an extension of our service range, will initially allow them to check their balance and recent transactions, as well as the ability to top-up pre-pay mobile phone accounts. We expect new services to be added in the future."

Alastair Lukies, chief executive, MONILINK added: "Almost everyone in Britain today carries a mobile phone, making it the most suitable device for people to keep in touch with their finances. With electronic payments now the norm, MONILINK will ultimately help Alliance & Leicester customers to manage their finances better."

Ian Tandy continues: "Using a mobile phone for banking will enable customers to have an even better handle on their finances, with up to the minute detail, accessed through a secure channel. The security built into this technology ensures that all details are automatically deleted once read, giving customers peace of mind and confidence in the service."

In the future, Alliance & Leicester intends to extend the range of services available using MONILINK. These could include the ability to access other accounts, the ability to transfer money or even to pay a bill directly from their handset.

Ian Tandy concluded: "I'm certain mobile phone banking will become a widely used channel, especially as lives become even more digitalised. Alliance & Leicester is committed to being the UK's leading direct bank account and the introduction of mobile banking enhances the award-winning banking services we currently provide."

In the future, Alliance & Leicester intends to extend the range of services available using MONILINK. These could include the ability to access other accounts, the ability to transfer money or even to pay a bill directly from their handset.

And it is expected that rivals, including Barclays, NatWest and Nationwide Building Society, will not be far behind in exploiting the same technology.

HSBC and first direct customers who sign up to the new service can request balance information from their account and mini-statements by sending a text message.

They can also Top-Up their own prepay mobile phone, or even another person's, via text if they have a Maestro debit card. There are also plans to let customers make cash transfers from their accounts. HSBC is using technology called MONILINK, developed by cash machine provider Link.

Customers request the service by sending a text message. They are sent instructions about how to download the necessary software to their phone. The download is encoded to that particular phone, so it would not work if a fraudster tried to transfer it to another.

The software is free and there is no monthly or annual fee. But text messages cost 20p for every balance inquiry and 25p for mini statements.

first direct, which launched as a phone bank in 1989, started text message banking seven years ago. One in three of its customers receives weekly or monthly mini statements via text message for free and the bank sends more than 48m each year. Lloyds TSB sends customers free weekly texts showing their account balance.

Barclays launched a text message service for online bank customers in May. Customers are notified by text when a new payee is identified on their account with the aim of spotting fraud attempts early. Barclays and Lloyds TSB are said to be looking closely at widening their text message banking.

'More choice for consumers in the way they do their banking is good news,' says Rebecca Fearnley, principal researcher at consumer group Which? 'However, 25p for a text message seems steep, so consumers should be wary of using the service too often.' x

Last month, credit card Mint, which is owned by RBS group, launched a system that allows its customers to review balances and latest transactions and make payments by text message.

Richard Pinchin, 39, a self-employed barber from Swindon, is a Nationwide customer and has banked online since 1997, when Nationwide was the first to offer the service.

Richard says that new technology in banking has made organising his finances much easier and he would be interested to use text message banking if Nationwide offered it. 'I do the majority of my banking online,' says Richard, who is married to Sharon, 37, a bank clerk, and has two children Ryan, 11, and Hayley, 5.

'I check my account balance at home on the computer most mornings and it makes life easier to be able to pay bills, transfer money and view statements whenever I want to.

'I'm not sure I would use text message often,' he adds. 'But it could be useful if I was away on holiday and needed to check something.'

Derek French, director at the Campaign for Community Banking, which lobbies to keep bank branches open and advocates the sharing of branches by multiple banks, says that most customers do not use online or text message banking channels exclusively.

'At some point, most customers still need to use a bank branch or speak to someone on the phone, either to pay in cash or sort out a problem,' he says.

The services require users to download free software onto their phone. As with online banking, once registered and authenticated, users will have secure access to their accounts - wherever they are.

MONILINK™ has been developed over the past three years by Link (which runs the UK's cash machine network) and Monitise, part of the Morse Group.

The company uses the trusted technology and operational capability of the Link interchange network which is connected with 37 of the UK's leading retail banks and building societies. This allows Link's portfolio of services, such as balance enquiries and mobile prepay Top-Ups, to be delivered to the broadest group of customers.

Charges for using the MONILINK™ service will be billed by the mobile phone provider and appear on customers' regular bills.

Costs will be 20p per balance enquiry and 25p per mini statement. Mobile phone Top-Ups will be free.

You can also Top-Up your own or someone else's pre-pay mobile phone.

To use the new service, you need only download a piece of software on to your phone.

As with online banking, once you've been registered and authenticated you will have secure access to your accounts - anytime, any place, anywhere.

The new service also allows customers to Top-Up their own or someone else's prepay mobile on the O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, Virgin and Tesco mobile networks.

The banks have launched a mobile phone banking platform developed by the UK's cash machine network LINK and its joint venture partner Monitise.

Customers need to download a small Java application onto their phone to use the service. Once registered and authenticated customers will have secure access to their accounts via their mobile phones.

Jonathan Entheridge, head of e-channels at first direct/HSBC, says he never underestimates the value of new services and considers innovation in its own right as a business benefit.

'The service will produce cost savings from people going through our banking system rather than through a rival bank where we would have to pay a fee,'
said Entheridge.

'It's also good branding in front of the consumer when they are topping up their phone instead of going to the corner shop,' he said.

HSBC is first direct's parent organisation, which means a shared infrastructure has enabled a quick and straightforward roll-out.

'By making a small amount of changes to back-end systems we've been able to deploy this service across all HSBC/first direct customers,' said Entheridge.

'It's a very small IT investment to unlock a very innovative service and be first to market in the UK.'

first direct pioneered text message banking seven years ago and has text alerts as triggers set on customers' accounts. More than 30 per cent of customers choose to receive weekly or monthly mini-statements and text alerts which can, for example, tell customers when their salary has been paid.

Customers of HSBC, and its subsidiary first direct, will be able to check bank balances, view statements and to Top-Up mobile phone accounts using the service.

Jonathan Etheridge, the head of e-channels at HSBC, said although the handset could be used for a variety of functions, the bank has decided to take a "pragmatic" view as to what people will want to use the it for. He said services such as account transfers, Oyster card Top-Ups and congestion charge payments are the sort of functions the bank may look to add if customers want them.

Mr Etheridge said previous attempts to launch mass-market mobile payments systems in the UK, such as Simpay and Mondex, failed because they did nottake into account how a customer would want to use mobile payment systems.

HSBC is working with MONILINK, a joint venture between the IT services company Morse and the ATM company The Link, to offer the service. Morse's Alastair Lukies said the service is secure as all the data is stored on servers, not on the phone, and only a registered handset that is linked to the account can be used to access the information.

"There are 50,000 ATMs in the UK. We could have 50 million," Mr Lukies said, adding that there are 150 million balance enquiries made a month in this country. He added that other UK banks are expected to start offering similar mobile banking services over the coming months.

HSBC's first direct started offering basic mobile banking services in 1999 by sending its customers text-message alerts related to their accounts. The service proved popular, with 30 per cent of its customers opting to receive weekly statements via text. Customers will pay 20p per balance enquiry and 25p for a mini-statement.

Despite the strong take-up of internet banking, most consumers have proved hesitant to use their phones to buy anything more than a ring-tone for the phone or a short video clip in Europe. This is despite the rapid take-up of m-commerce in countries such as Japan and Korea.

Companies such as NTT DoCoMo have harnessed the ubiquity of the mobile phone for an increasing number of transactions.

The service, called MONILINK, connects directly with Link's secure cash machine network, and also enables HSBC customers to Top-Up any pre-paid mobile phone on any network instantly regardless of the network they use.
"Any mum or dad who banks with HSBC whose kids are shouting 'I'm running out of talk time' will be able to Top-Up that phone instantly across any network," according to MONILINK's chief executive Alastair Lukies.

The Top-Up service is free so an HSBC customer stuck with no talk time and unable to get to a shop to buy a new card will be able to Top-Up their credit directly from their bank account. Other banks including Alliance & Leicester, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland are all expected to launch the service soon.

"We've developed MONILINK™ entirely around the needs of the consumer, who we know craves the ability to check their account when on the move," added Mr Lukies. "This platform ultimately provides consumers with a remote control for their finances."

HSBC, owner of first direct, will provide the MONILINK™ service free of charge for customers who want weekly or monthly mini-statements on up to three accounts. For £2.50 a month customers can also receive personalised text alerts telling them when their salary has been paid or warning of an impending overdraft. Although HSBC is not charging, the actual alerts will cost customers money is the mobile phone operators charge for texts. Each balance inquiry will cost 20p with a mini-statement costing 25p.

Linking mobile devices with a payment platform has been talked about by the mobile phone industry since the dot.com boom. But though consumers in countries such as Japan can already use their phones to pay for small items like cups of coffee, British users have been restricted to using text messaging to buy items such as ringtones or pay the congestion charge. In the meantime cashless technologies such as London Transport's Oyster card, which enables passengers to pre-pay for journeys on tubes and buses, have stolen a march on the market.

MONILINK™ technology may soon be licensed to financial networks overseas. The company counts the former head of the CBI Sir Digby Jones among its directors and he is believed to have been acting as an ambassador for the service.

The fact that MONILINK™ connects directly with the Link network also gives it a level of security unmatched by other card-based payments systems.