Banking Services On WhatsApp Are Catching Up

Two private Indian banks namely, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Saraswat Co-operative Banks on Friday said that they have started various services for their customers on WhatsApp. While Kotak Mahindra Bank will address bank account, debit and credit card queries on the instant messaging platform, Saraswat Co-operative Bank would be the first Indian bank in the co-operative sector to have a live WhatsApp channel for notifications and Bot services.

WhatsApp recently launched its 'WhatsApp for Business' service that allows businesses to use software interaction on initiation by a user to allow sending notifications like text messages, boarding passes, receipts, tickets, account statements, among others to users.

Saraswat Bank in a statement said, "In this rapidly evolving era, it has become essential to have direct communication with customers. Smart messaging apps assist in reaching out to them on real-time basis. The bank continues to elevate its digital capabilities to offer customers new and exciting products through digital platforms."

With the 'Banking on WhatsApp' service, Saraswat Bank customers will be able to receive messages on WhatsApp rather than text messages along with the instant messenger's end-to-end encryption. Besides, the customer will also be able to initiate a chat for services, check the balance and get mini bank statements. The bank further said that it will be releasing other functionalities like mobile banking registration in a phased manner.