CIMB launches ASEAN's first banking service on Facebook

OctoPay is an extension of CIMB Clicks.

According to a release, CIMB Bank launched the OctoPay application - ASEAN’s first banking service on the world’s most popular social networking site, Facebook. The application is an extension of CIMB Clicks, an internet banking portal developed by the Bank.

In an event held earlier today, Renzo Viegas, Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Head of Consumer Banking, CIMB Bank commented, “This is truly an innovative breakthrough on the way we do banking in this day of age. Facebook is the fastest growing social networking medium and is reported to have a total online reach of more than 800 million subscribers worldwide. With OctoPay, we took the lead by diversifying our alternate delivery channels, and integrate our internet banking capabilities with social networking elements which is convenient and fun for our customers who are also active Facebookers.”

There are three main features to OctoPay. Firstly, it enables transfer of funds between OctoPay friends. With this, OctoPay users are able to send money from their CIMB Bank or CIMB Islamic deposit accounts via single third party transfers to other CIMB Bank or CIMB Islamic account holders. Secondly, transfer of funds among users can also be used to reload prepaid mobile phone accounts for more airtime value.

Thirdly, and also the most unique feature is the Coinbox. OctoPay users can invite their friends to contribute to a savings pool and share money online. They can initiate group fund transfers between family, friends or colleagues for any planned event - be it for meals, movies, or even for gifts. It also acts as a collection tool whereby users can create funds for a specific drive or charity cause.

”With OctoPay, we also hope to educate the public on how easy and secure it is to conduct banking transactions via social media as well as collectively encourage savings behaviour among the public,” added Viegas

Viegas also reassures that any transaction done using OctoPay is secure as the application resides on CIMB Click’s infrastructure. Firstly, registration for this service can only be done at CIMB Clicks with an OctoPay activation code. Once done, another authentication process is done by using a SecureWord which is unique to each CIMB Clicks users. Hence, profile identification is tagged to the real name of the account holder in the CIMB Clicks system for verification.

Once registration and account set up is done, transfer of money among Facebook friends can be affected by accepting each other into their OctoPay list. Each OctoPay transaction is encrypted with an advanced AES256 algorithm and requires a Transaction Authorisation Code (TAC) for confirmation at all times. For added security, a RM500 per day transaction limit is imposed on Facebook users registered with OctoPay.

“This will guarantee that transactions are made in a safe and private manner. To add, our level of security has received top recognition from Global Finance magazine as Malaysia’s Top Internet Banking Site for the second year running and the best Online Securities Platform by Asian Banking and Finance Retail Banking Award for 2012,” assured Viegas.

OctoPay can be accessed from anywhere in the world with Internet connection, 24 hours a day, seven days a week with no service or transaction charges. To date, CIMB Clicks has a total of 3.6 million registered users in Malaysia with an average monthly volume of 3.5 million financial transactions. Additionally, the CIMB Clicks application downloaded onto iPhone, iPad and Android-based devices are approximately 500,000.

Additionally, CIMB Bank is also one of the earliest adopters of social media amongst banks. Having started its social media presence in 2010, CIMB social media pages serve over 1.3 million Facebook fans across ASEAN today; and is ASEAN’s most “liked” bank. Earlier this year, CIMB won the ‘Best Social Media Engagement’ award at The Asian Banker’s Excellence in Retail Financial Services International Awards 2012 and was also named ‘Best in Social Media’ at the World’s Best Internet Bank Awards by Global Finance. Earlier this month, CIMB Bank also launched the world’s first fully integrated bank deposit campaign - Savings Circle that also leverages on the viral nature of Facebook.