Mumbai: It was internet banking, which ushered in an new era in banking convenience by bringing the entire operations to the computer and now mobile banking promises to take it to the next level. ICICI Bank the private banking industry leader in India, has introduced a full-fledged mobile banking service in India. This step will bring in a new era in banking transactions.

With this service offered by ICICI Bank, all the transactions, which were earlier possible by internet can now be done using mobile phones. Now, customers will be able to do much more than just getting their account details or mobile alerts. The innovations in technology have led to a 'branchless' banking and customers now increasingly use other channels like ATMs, internet banking etc. as compared to visiting their bank branches. It is not very difficult to find a private bank customer who hasn't visited his bank for months or even years.

ICICI Bank has reported that of all the transactions handled by the bank, ATM transactions constitute about 55%, internet banking comes next with 22% , 12% of the transactions are handled by call centers and the rest are handled by the branches. A few years back internet banking occupied just 2% of the total transactions by ICICI Bank and within a short span it has grown by leaps and bounds.

iMobile, the new platform introduced by ICICI Bank exclusive to mobile banking will enable  utility bill payments, payment of insurance premiums, funds transfer to ICICI Bank and non-ICICI Bank accounts and a host of other operations. Demat accounts, saving accounts, loan accounts and credit card accounts all can be operated by the iMobile platform of ICICI Bank.

Obopay, a mobile payment solutions company, is currently working with six other banks for inter and intra bank money transfer using mobile phones. Corporation Bank and Union Bank are other banks, which are in the process to launch similar products.