According to a report by My Broadband, Absa’s head of retail marketing Arrie Rautenbach revealed in an interview with MoneyWeb that the bank will finally be launching its very own banking app. The app will become available to staff this month and then to clients in the first quarter of 2013.

While Absa seems to be behind competitors like FNB, who are arguably at the forefront of embracing the banking app, in terms of getting an app to market, Rautenbach claims that once launched, the app will be better than anything that is currently out there at the moment. A bold statement.

According to MoneyWeb, Barclays bank, a majority shareholder in Absa, has recently launched a mobile-to-mobile payment system in Kenya called Pingit. Pingit lets customers send money across borders using just a telephone number.

Absa customers in South Africa can then benefit from these innovative services like Pingit as they will continue to develop and expand, driving innovation over time, says Rautenbach.