HSBC Bank in a deal with BT has rolled out free Wi-Fi services to 650 branches across the UK, following the footsteps of Barclays.
The announcement comes after the recent research report from BT and Avaya, revealing that more than 49 percent of UK banking customers believed that “free WiFi would greatly improve their in-branch experience.”
“We’ve been listening to our customers about how we can make banking easier for them, and they tell us they like the idea of mobile banking, but in some cases would value being shown how it works,” said Carl Howard, head of digital for HSBC in the UK.
“Our branch staff can now demo our mobile banking app in branch to get people started, as well as demonstrating new features such as the new mobile payment service Paym which allows customers to pay their contacts using just a mobile number.”
A HSBC spokeswoman noted that the new service will be available on a “click and connect” basis and will be using the most secure protocols to protect users. The bank is planning to roll out the service to more of its 1,132 branches, if the initial response is positive.
HSBC said that the new service would help customers use the wireless hotspots to get online through downloading the bank’s mobile banking app on their smartphones or tablets or simply browse through the web freely.
HSBC recently announced that £2 billion worth of payments and transfers with more than one million log-ins made every week through its mobile banking app, which was revamped in September 2013. The bank’s first app, launched in 2006, allowed customers to only check their account balance. The revamped app added the ability to make bill payments to existing beneficiaries and transfer funds between HSBC accounts.
