Studio Press

Celcom (M) Bhd has teamed up with Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) to offer the bank's customers mobile financial services through Maybank2u (M2U) Mobile Service. “The service is Celcom's first mobile banking application using general packet radio service (GPRS), third generation (3G) and 3.5G. It will give Maybank customers the opportunity to conduct mobile financial banking and transactions on their handsets,” Celcom chief operating officer Datuk Zubir A. Rasid said at the agreement signing ceremony yesterday. Zubir described the partnership as a “win-win'' partnership as 40% of Maybank customers were Celcom users. “Therefore, we can leverage on each other's advantages to be more competitive in the market,” he said. Celcom has 150,000 3G subscribers while Maybank has 750,000 active Internet banking users. Zubir said M2U also provided value-added services such as daily market and economic news and media highlights, as well as a mobile financial calculator at an additional charge. The service will be available early next month. It will be free for the first three months, after which Celcom will charge RM3 monthly for unlimited usage. Currently, the service is available only on 30 handset models, including Nokia and Motorola. “We hope to increase to more models by year-end,” Zubir said, adding that Celcom had allocated RM1mil for M2U mobile advertising and promotions. Zubir said Celcom and Maybank planned to introduce more new products and services to further enhance their customer service. M2U Mobile is the third collaboration between Celcom and Maybank, the other two being Maybank2e.net and the short messaging service prepaid top-up facility. Maybank senior executive vice-president Datuk Johar Che Mat said the new service was another testimony to the bank's success in maintaining its leadership in Internet banking. “It represents the convenience of having a mini Maybank2U service via mobile handsets,” he said, adding that Celcom users would only need to register and activate the service at any Maybank automated teller machine and via Maybank2U.com. Johar added that the bank was confident that M2U Mobile would become a powerful brand. “We are also looking for opportunities to collaborate with other telecommunications players to offer similar services to our customers in the future,” he added. -theStar