Pudong Development Bank's Shanghai Branch says that it will soon open email and mobile phone remittance services for its online banking users.

Pudong Development Bank has issued a release saying that under the new service, so long as a customer binds an email address or mobile phone number with a bank account, the customer can easily transfer money by inputting a receiver's email address or mobile phone number.

Currently, the receiver must also be a client of Pudong Development Bank, but the bank says this limit will be removed in January 2006.

The bank says this service has two advantages. First, the remitter does not have to take great trouble of inputting a receiver's long account number. Second, it it safer when the bank account number is not directly involved in the remitting process.