St. George Bank has begun trialing iBeacon within three of its branches in Sydney with the hopes to provide iPhone-toting customers a more personalised experience.
While iBeacon tracking was enabled in US Apple retail stores December last year, it is only now rolling out across Australia, and St. George Bank is touting itself to be the first bank in Australia to adopt the technology.
"The iBeacon trial forms part of a broader investment in our retail branches that will see more digital technology and increased staff expertise to make banking simpler, easier and faster for our customers," said George Frazis, CEO of the St.George Banking Group.
iPersonalised experience
iBeacon will be used in St. George Banks to detect when a customer walks into a branch. Customers will then receive a welcome message and "tailored information" on their iPhone.
The customer can then choose to respond to the information or cancel any interaction. Of course, iBeacon will only work on devices that have iOS 7 devices and only if Bluetooth is enabled.
The three branches are located in Bondi Junction, Blacktown and Penrith. If you want to get involved, you'll need to opt-in for the trial and you'll need to have the St. George Bank iOS app installed.
St. George Bank will look at the feedbank from customers after the trials are complete before implementing a large-scale roll out.
- Looks like iBeacon could pave the way for the iWatch as well
