The last of the big banks to latch on to this is Nedbank, with its offering NedMobile, following the lead of Absa, FNB and Standard Bank.

Saks Ntombela, MD of retail product solutions at Nedbank, says Nedbank was, in fact, one of the first banks to introduce cell phone banking in 2000. 'However, the growth of the customer base was hampered by the rapid advance in technology, and the existing service could not keep up with the changing technology,' he says.

On the question of how Nedbank plans to be competitive when its competitors offer free cell phone banking, Ntombela states that their costs, which are presented as free, are actually calculated into the transaction fees. 'Nedbank's offering will be cost-effective, as the banking costs will not be increased, nor will there be a need to upgrade cell phones or to get special service providers or SIM cards.'

One thing that banks should perhaps keep in mind is the fact that increasing use of technology has distanced banks from their customers, according to a study from the research and consulting firm focused exclusively on the global financial services industry, TowerGroup (not related to the local company with the same name).

Where a one-on-one relationship with one's bank manager was a given in the past, it is now a time-costing luxury.