BPI goes “Mobile Web”… and disappoints

BPI just announced that they’re services are now accessible via mobile phones. Though the invitation included a special movie screening of Eclipse, I attended and curious how they implemented the mobile web strategy and wanted to see it in action.

During the media interview, a BPI rep tells us there are two ways to access BPI services on the mobile phone:

One is via a Menu-based system integrated into the carrier/telco. It’s basically an SMS based query — some thing we’ve already seen for years now.

The other one is via the mobile web. You can now access www.bpiexpressonline.com using the built-in browser of your phone. It’s not a Web app, not an iPhone app nor an Android app. Not even a Java app that can be widely supported by entry level to mid-range handsets. It’s just an optimized webpage (lite version).

Ok, so for a banking institution like BPI that’s very strict in security (try applying for a credit card or enroll a 3rd party account), having a mobile accessible website might be a huge leap already.

To be fair, I asked them if they are putting efforts into developing an iPhone or Android app and they said yes. Hopefully, we’d see that coming out soon.

So, let’s put this mobile banking website to a test. All you guys out there who have a BPI Express Online account, go try logging to your account with your mobile phone’s browser. Let me know which phone you used and if it does really work.

Update: Clarification from Eric of BPI below that the mobile app is the Java version you can download and install on your Java-capable handsets. Turns out their mobile web presence has been there for years now. Check out www.thumbworld.com.ph for more.