Harris Bank, a fully-owned U.S. subsidiary of Bank of Montreal, will offer its nearly one million Chicago-based retail customers the ability to conduct banking and investment services using Internet-enabled mobile phones on the Sprint PCS network. The announcement makes Chicago-based Harris Bank the first U.S. bank to roll out wireless banking and investment services to its entire customer base.
Powered by 724 Solutions' Financial Services Platform (FSP), the bank's service allows customers to gain access to banking, investment, and information content with a few keystrokes. Customers who use Harris Wireless will be able to:
- Bank online
- View account balances and transaction histories
- Transfer funds between Harris accounts
- Request check re-orders
- Request stock and index quotes
- View personal investment portfolios
- Create and receive stock alerts
- Check news, weather and horoscopes
Harris Bank introduced the service in March through a market trial with 125 of its customers. More than half of the trial participants said they signed up for the trial to simplify their lives and to find more time to relax. Harris Wireless is an extension of Veev, Bank of Montreal's Canadian wireless banking service, which launched in May of 1999 and today offers bill payment and brokerage options, as well as wireless shopping capability. Since the introduction of the Veev service last year, Bank of Montreal and 724 Solutions have worked together to extend the wireless banking platform to one that supports a wide array of banking and investment services including brokerage and trading across multiple languages, carriers, banks, and brokerages.
"The Harris Wireless launch marks the culmination of our efforts to extend the truly convenient, secure suite of banking and investment services already enjoyed by Veev customers in Canada to this U.S. bank's entire customer base," said Greg Wolfond, CEO of 724 Solutions. "We are very pleased that not only has our Financial Services Platform enabled Harris Bank to go from pilot to full-scale launch in under a year, it has also made it possible for Harris Bank to offer the kind of services that its customers want."
Edited by Ellen Jensen
