American Express launches banking app in Saudi Arabia; will it take off?
Global credit card giant American Express just launched an Arabic and English iPhone app for Saudi Arabia, offering users greater control over their credit card accounts via their mobile phone.
App users can track their balance, view details about
transactions made with their card, check available offers and
discounts, and discover the nearest ATMs.
New customers who want to sign up for American Express can also
apply for a card via the app, or add more than one credit card.
They can control each card separately and download a printable copy
of their banking transactions to their personal computers.
But will the app fly in Saudi Arabia?
With one of the highest mobile penetration rates in the Arab world
at 187.5% in
2012, Saudi Arabia seems a logical choice for entrance into the
region. Just behind the UAE, smartphone users in Saudi Arabia are
the region’s most likely to use their mobile phones to complete a
financial or banking transaction, according to a study conducted by TNS.
And yet many customers in Saudi are still leery of completing a
financial transaction online due to a lack of regulations or
structures to protect their purchases. Credit card use isn't
terribly low, at an estimated 51% in 2009,
compared to 60% at that time in the U.S., but cash and prepaid
cards still dominate; an estimated 98.1% of purchases in Saudi Arabia are
conducted using cash.
Although AmEX opted to jump straight into offering online credit
card management in Saudi Arabia, it may find that supporting
prepaid cards might enhance use in the Middle East. The credit card
company could perhaps port services from Serve, an online
platform and mobile app that it launched in the U.S. in
2011, which allows customers to open up a prepaid Amex card account
and manage it online and via mobile.
American Express is clearly also betting on the growth of
e-commerce in the region, following companies like PayPal who have
recently launched operations in
Egypt, expanding their reach across the Arab world.
Their new app is available for free download on iOS and will soon be available for
Android, Blackberry and Windows phones as well.
Will you be more comfortable shopping online if you can manage your transactions via your smartphone? Share your thoughts.