| Lyna Mohamad |
BANK Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) yesterday gave a sneak preview of the latest version of its BIBD NEXGEN mobile app at a media launch held at the Belluno Cafe in Kiarong yesterday.
The app – which includes the BIBD NEXGEN Wallet for payment convenience – will officially launch in January 2019.
A first for Brunei Darussalam, the BIBD NEXGEN Wallet will allow customers to Near Field Communication (NFC) payments using their NFC-supported android devices.
BIBD Chief Operating Officer Dr Gyorgy Ladics and BIBD Chief Information Officer Adi Shamsul bin Haji Sabli were present.
Dr Ladics said that the BIBD NEXGEN Wallet facility would enable their customers to make safe online payments while abroad.
“It is BIBD’s continuous endeavour to not only be the leader in digital banking and digital payment solutions, but it also continues to explore the latest innovations to provide convenience to customers and traders, so they can make their transactions easier, faster and safer,” he said.
BIBD Head of Retail Banking Hajah Nurul Akmar binti Haji Mohd Jaafar, meanwhile, said that BIBD is aiming to become Brunei’s leading digital payment solution provider.
“At the first stage it will be just android users; hopefully, this media launch will be able to showcase the convenience of no longer having to bring your wallet and the convenience of not having to bring change,” she said, adding that every transaction made on the wallet will earn points for the customers.
“The beauty of NFC is it can be done offline and online, meaning that customers don’t have to have a network and will be allowed to use up to five transactions below BND100.”
The launch is part of BIBD’s efforts to support the de-cashing of the economy with seamless transactions, having already introduced digital conveniences such as BIBD Quickpay for QR code payments, BIBD vCard or Virtual Mastercard, Mastercard Contactless and Visa payWave under the BIBD NEXGEN platform.
At the same time, BIBD is keen to partner with local institutions to create alliances to improve access and create more opportunities for the ease of doing business in Brunei Darussalam, while improving the infrastructure for a faster and more secure digital economy.
This product can be used at any contactless-enabled terminals at more than 30 million merchants worldwide and digital platforms under BIBD NEXGEN.
Such cashless economies also introduce efficient cash management services, while reducing queue lines with faster transactions and removal of providing change.
In line with the goals of Brunei Vision 2035, BIBD NEXGEN showcases the bank’s intent to transform traditional banking to the fintech age, while at the same time promoting key alliances among different industries, going beyond Brunei shores with its local, regional and international partnerships.
Apart from supporting national priorities to make Bruneians highly skilled in the digital space, it will also benefit the entire ecosystem with higher digital adoption among the society for better interconnectivity to progress the economy towards a documented, secured, and digitised nation.
The security of the BIBD NEXGEN ecosystem, especially on the security of its customers, is BIBD’s number one priority for which BIBD has partnered with leading global digital security providers.
In addition, the application of added and improved security layers such as multi-layered authentication, tokenisation and fraud prevention, along with multiple back-end encryptions, will see BIBD improve the security profile of its BIBD NEXGEN payment solution infrastructure for the benefit of both businesses and consumers.