STOCKHOLM, Sweden, July 4, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Vodafone Sweden has concluded an agreement with ForeningsSparbanken (Swedbank) concerning the development of mobile telephony services. The first stage of this development will enable ForeningsSparbanken and its independent savings banks and jointly owned banks, to offer their almost 1.3 million Internet bank retail customers the chance to sign mobile subscriptions, buy prepaid cards and access their bank balance details, as well as itemised call information. The services will enable customers to handle all their household and mobile finances in one place.
"ForeningsSparbanken will be the first bank in the Nordic region to allow customers to access information about their private finances and mobile telephony at one and the same place," says Marie Persson Bjorkman, Head of Service Provision at Vodafone Sweden. "For us, it's tremendously exciting to be working with one of the major banks and to see that they share our view of mobile telephony as a tool to simplify the everyday lives of customers."
For Vodafone Sweden and ForeningsSparbanken, this agreement signals the start of a long-term working partnership in which both parties will jointly develop mobile services specially designed for the bank's customers. ForeningsSparbanken's Internet banking service will allow customers to handle all their household subscriptions and prepaid cards and top up their children's prepaid cards. Both parties have also the ambition to further develop the access to bank services via the mobile phone.
The first stage of the services is scheduled to be launched via ForeningsSparbanken's Internet bank during the autumn of 2003.
For more information, please contact: Vodafone Sweden Marie Persson Bjorkman, Commercial Director, Whole Sales & Service Provision Telephone: +46 734 25 26 06, e-mail: marie.p.bjorkman@vodafone.se
ForeningsSparbanken
Eva-Kristin Ohman, Head of ForeningsSparbanken's Internet banking operations Telephone: +46 70 661 23 50 Edvind Nygaard, Project Manager, ForeningsSparbanken's Internet bank Telephone: +46 70 661 23 51
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