Data volume instead of interest: Salt examines entry into the banking business

From the summer, O2 will offer financial services in cooperation with a bank. This entry is being watched with great interest by Salt in this country. O2 pays no interest, but rewards customers with data volumes. "Megabytes instead of meager interest," the CEO of Telefonica Deutschland, which owns O2, told German media. The offer includes money transfers, standing orders, small loans and a Mastercard. Transfers can be made using the recipient's phone number. In France, Orange, a mobile provider, also entered the banking business in 2017. To this end, Orange has purchased 65 percent of a bank and later plans to expand to Spain and Belgium with the banking solution.

The linking of banking services and mobile subscriptions is also highly interesting for Swiss network operators, says Comparis expert Christoph Glaus to the Sonntagszeitung. In this way, the providers could generate new sources of revenue and bind customers more closely to themselves.

A big advantage for telecom providers: They can offer low administrative hurdles when opening an account. The customer's identity has already been checked when signing up for a subscription. A bank account can thus be opened without any effort. Nevertheless, apart from Salt, no other mobile communications provider in Switzerland seems to be showing any interest in the banking business. As finance professor Andreas Dietrich explained to the Sonntagszeitung, Swisscom in particular has good reasons for its lack of interest. Many banks have outsourced payment transactions and data management. Services that Swisscom offers and are an important growth area for the Swiss market leader. Customers that, according to Dietrich, one does not want to annoy. (hae/SoZ)