Very soon, bank account holders will be able to access their accounts, transfer funds, check balances and request cheque books by simply punching in *99# from their mobile phones, including the most basic GSM handsets.
While some lenders have already rolled out similar services, *99# will be a universal code to access account details across all banks. What sets apart the *99# initiative from other mobile telephony services currently offered is that the *99# connectivity is under the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platform where each dial-in results in a live connection with the bank's server.
This is similar to the system used in pre-paid phones to check balances. The user's numerical literacy would be enough to operate the account . Since it's not based on SMS or GPRS connectivity, there's no charge on the user.
