South African Bank Brings The Country’s Stock Market to the Mobile Phone

South Africa’s FNB has launched a mobile banking application that will bring the entire Johannesburg Stock Exchange  to the mobile phone.

The Share Investing Banking App will allow FNB customers to buy, sell and keep track of their investments via their smartphones or tablets. The Banking App is available for iPhones, iPads, Android phones and tablets and users of Windows 8 tablets.

The FNB Banking App shows a user’s overview of their shares and SENS information, market indicators to help customers make informed decisions about trading in shares.

According to Giuseppe Virgillito, Head of Banking App, FNB Mobile and Connect: “Existing customers of both the Banking App and Share Investing are very similar and it makes sense to develop the new version of the Banking App to include the Share Investing functionality that is not only easy to use, but also fun to play with”

Apart from allowing customers to buy and sell JSE listed shares, the app also alows them to buy Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Krugerrands and provides a comprehensive view of the market performance, depending on the Share Investing product held.

The app’s products include – Share Saver for regular monthly investments in the top 100 JSE listed shares.

-Share Builder, customers to choose from a basket of 24 pre-selected blue-chip shares and Krugerrands.

-Share Investor, which allows customers to invest in the full range of JSE listed shares and Krugerrands.

“FNB Share Investing is no stranger to innovation,” says Gusta Binikos, CEO of FNB Share Investing.”Since 2011, FNB has been the only bank to provide customers online access to Krugerrands and more recently with the launch of Share Saver, FNB provides customers access to the top 100 JSE listed shares (through the RMB Top40 and RMB Midcap ETF’s), which is the cheapest way to access the JSE and is only available from FNB.”

FNB was the first bank in South Africa to launch a Smartphone Banking App in 2011, and has over 600 000 active customers of its Banking App to date.The mobile products target 90% of Share Investing customers who trade online and a further 60% of these customers who have access to a Smart device according to the firm’s stats.