VTB to launch online bank in VK by end of April
MOSCOW. April 26 (Interfax) - VTB will launch an online bank in VK Messenger by the end of April, which will allow customers to make the most popular transactions within the social network, Anatoly Pechatnikov, Deputy President and Chairman of the Board of the Bank, told reporters.
"VTB is completing testing and by the end of April will launch a full-fledged online bank on the chatbot platform in VK Messenger. With the new service, customers will be able to make more than 80% of their everyday financial transactions without leaving the VKontakte social network," Pechatnikov said.
With the help of the VTB online bank in VK, it will be possible to check the balances of cards and accounts, transfer money through the Fast Payment System and top up the balance of a mobile phone. It will also allow you to pay bills added to VTB Online subscriptions, such as taxes, traffic police fines, education, and utility bills. The time it takes to conduct transactions will be cut in half compared to the Internet bank.
"In the future, for VK users, we plan to expand the functionality of the online bank and bring it to a full-fledged analogue of the mobile app. According to our forecasts, more than 100,000 VTB customers will be able to use the new service in VK by the end of the year," Pechatnikov said. .
The bank in VK works on the mobile version of the social network on all devices, including smartphones running both iOS and Android. To use the service in VK, two-stage authorization is provided, for the social network and for the online bank account. If the user does not perform any actions within five minutes after authorization, the session terminates automatically.
In order to start using the online bank, a social network user needs to go to the VKontakte application and find the VTB community. There must be a blue verification checkmark next to the name of the bank group. Then, open a dialogue with the chatbot and click on the "VTB Online" button. When you first log in, in the form that opens, you can enter data to log into your account in VTB Online. For subsequent logins, you need only enter the code from the SMS received from the bank.
The VTB mobile app was removed from the AppStore and Google Play after the US imposed sanctions against the bank in February 2022. As an alternative service channel, VTB launched an online bank in Telegram in January. This remote banking service channel continues to function, but its continued operation was called into question after the new law went into effect on March 1 prohibiting banks from using foreign instant messengers to transmit data on transfers, payment orders and other information.