RAKBANK app: Money transfer at the touch of a button

The launch of a new banking product by National Bank of Ras al-Khaimah (RAKBANK) is promising to make life more convenient by allowing instant money transfer services for UAE mobile phone users.

Simplicity and convenience are the goals RAKBANK CEO Peter England said he hoped to achieve following the launch of MobileCash in Dubai on Tuesday.

MobileCash, a new feature on the bank smartphone application, enables customers to send money to anyone in the United Arab Emirates through their phone.

“I think there will be quite a lot of demand particularly for people wanting to send money instantaneously; I can send relatively low amounts quickly and easily and for free,” England told Al Arabiya News.

Through the mobile application, a customer will be able to register a recipient in a list of “beneficiaries,” inserting their name and mobile phone numbers, RAKBANK Head of Channels, Masood Khan, told reporters.

A customer will then enter the amount they wish to transfer and simply press on the beneficiary’s name.

The beneficiary, using nothing but a one-time code valid for 24 hours, will be able to withdraw cash from any RAKBANK cash machine.

“You just walk up [to the ATM], press the enter key and the number, key-in the amount you expect to receive, because only you should know that, and done,” explained England.

While internet banking is more popular amongst their customers, RAKBANK statistics show an increasing interest in mobile-banking, which Khan deemed to be more secure.

“I think mobile banking is far more secure when compared to internet banking for that matter,” he said in an interview with Al-Arabiya News.

Khan says there are two levels of authentication that guarantee security while using the app, the first being the login password inserted to enter one’s banking space and second, the fact that every activity conducted through the app requires a login pass and transaction password.

“The app will not give you an option to save your password or user ID, every time you want to use the app you will have to enter your user name and password,” he added.

Additionally, the user-ID used to login to the app. is linked to the phone, which England said is “crucial.”

“This way if someone gets your ID and password, they’ll need your phone as well…even if someone got all that information, unless they have got the physical phone they will not be able to use the mobile banking app,” he said.

RAKBANK made the service available in June, but officially launched it on Tuesday.

The bank’s mobile app is available on the iTunes and the Google Play stores, more than 1,500 people have already used the MobileCash feature.