I was invited to Standard Chartered Bank event in June. The event was to promote their latest app, Breeze. It is an iPhone, iPod Touch Internet Banking app. Of course, it is not the first one but I was quite amaze by its features. More about that later.

The event was held at The Queen and Mangosteen at Vivocity.

We were introduced to the Standard Chartered Breeze app by Aman Narain, Global Head of  Remote Banking, Standard Chartered Bank.

It was a very casual event. We were group in tables with SCB’s people around to explain our queries.

There were some questions and answers but I guess. personally, testing the app is the best way to know 🙂 .

About Standard Chartered Breeze

• Free App (of course). Just go to App Store, search for Breeze.
• iOS 4 compatible (latest version 2.2).
• Only for Standard Chartered Online Banking customers who hold a Current, Savings or Personal Credit Account for full function. However, you can also use the app to locate AXS machines, ATM or SCB branch.
• Currently, this app is piloted and available in Singapore only. Other Pacific region like Malaysia (available in July), India and Hong Kong will follow.

Review

I downloaded the app on my iPod Touch (yes, it can work on iPod Touch). BTW, as I do not have a Standard Chartered Bank account, I went ahead to open one. I hate going to banks. So, I opt for the Internet Banking only account. As a test, I deposited only S$50 to this account.

Here is the screenshot when you access Breeze.

As you can see, it is already version 2.2 (iOS 4 compatible). As mentioned earlier, you do not need to log in to access the LOCATE, GET OFFERS or GET IN TOUCH features. BTW, the wall paper will change accordingly (day/night).

With the advance in Technology and people who hate to queue up in banks (like me), Standard Chartered has break new ground with this app. It is very user friendly and with its features (will talk about it later), it literally lets you do your stuff using only your smartphone or devices.

And after talking to Aman and his team, we understand that the standard strict banking security protocols are in place in this app. So, you should have no worries when using the app.

ATM/Branch Locator

It is quite useful if you want to locate AXS machines, ATM or SCB branch.

You can use current location or specify your location. The tab above can be selected to narrow down your search (for locating atm/AXS/Branch).

Offers

This is useful if you have SCB cards. It shows you the latest offers and promotion by category or by Merchant.

Now for the real Banking experience.

Breeze Features

Breeze has quite a number of useful functions. One of them is “Pay any Card” service. You can actually pay any Visa/Mastercard credit card bill via this service. Another one is the e-Cheque feature, the first in the world. I love this function, and I will be talking more on it.

Log in

Here is the login page.

Breeze uses SMS authentication for login. If you are an iPhone user, it will push this login pin via SMS. Too bad, you can copy and paste the pin. However, SCB team may consider this function in future. Once inside, you can see this screen. Simple layout which I like.

As you can see, there is an eCheque feature.

eCheque

Here is how it looks for the eCheque.

I personally hate to write cheque and mailing it. With this eCheque function, I can skip these steps.

First, there are already a list of companies that you can send the cheque to (for paying bill and etc). However, if you want to write a cheque to a person, you will need to go to the Standard Chartered Internet Banking site first to register the person. Once done, he/she will appear in the list. Quite simple actually.

I decided to “write” a S$20 cheque. The above is how it looks like. Select the person and everything is done for you. Enter the description if you want. Once you press send, Standard Chartered Bank will send the cheque on your behalf to the addressee. That is it! And here is something that the SCB team has done to make you feel fun doing banking stuff.

List/Calendar

In the list, you can see the things that you have done. For example, I put S$50 in June and I moved S$20 (eCheque) in July.

If you have done many transactions, you can use the calendar function to see individual date.

Move My Money

In this features, you can do the standard funds transfer or payment services.

However, do note that for the first time, you will need to go to the Internet Banking site to link your card information before it will appear in this app.

Summary

I think this app is really cool with the e-Cheque functions and the ability to pay any cards with it. There are already many banking solution apps but I think this is a first for the e-Cheque service. So, in my opinion, if you are already have a Standard Chartered Bank account, give this app a try. If you are not, you can follow the link below for more information. As with any app or Internet site, there is a risk of security breach if you don’t log out properly. So, remember to exit the program after you use. Once you exit, you will need to log in again.

Click Here for More Information on Standard Chartered Breeze

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