Until the commercial banks started to introduce internet banking, only a single service allowed you to do home banking Beltel.
Johann Coetzee, Beltel Product Manager at Telkom SA, says Beltel is not a method of electronic banking but an electronic commerce service, which gives users access to the services of a variety of different service providers or merchants.
Users require a software package called PCBel or a Minitel terminal, both sold by Telkom, or private communications software companies. Through a modem, the software dials a national toll-free number to access the Beltel service.
Users pay Telkom a monthly rental and usage fee, which is derived mainly from the time spent on-line. They also pay those who offer their services on Beltel such as the banks a transaction fee.
Coetzee says Beltel's subscriber base is growing by about 256 people a month. Every month about 13 000 companies pay the salaries of 1,3 million employees and about 30 000 people do their personal banking through Beltel. The network carries a transactional value of about R13 billion a year.
There are about 63 000 subscribers to Beltel and 317 companies offer their services on it.
Most of the banks offer a home banking service through Beltel but some, such as Boland Bank and Mercantile Bank, do not.
Nedbank says recently user volumes on the bank's Beltel banking service, NedTex, have begun to dwindle and it is likely Nedbank will phase out its Beltel banking service during the course of this year.
First National Bank's Beltel banking service is called VideoBank and is used extensively by its clients, the bank says. VideoBank has about 20 000 subscribers, 14 000 of whom are small or medium businesses. The other 6 000 are private subscribers.
"We will continue to provide the VideoBank Beltel service for as long as customers want it," a bank spokesperson said.
"Recently FNB committed itself to supporting the Beltel system upgrade that will make it Year 2000 compliant. This will require a significant investment, which is indicative of our continued support for the service."
Absa's Beltel service, aimed at individuals and small business, is called Compubank. Absa also says its service is used extensively, with over 25 000 users on the system.
"Beltel has served us and our clients well," an Absa spokesperson said. "It is a reliable and stable network. Although we believe its lifespan is now limited, we do not expect Beltel to disappear overnight because there is still too big a demand for it."
Nedbank says it is encouraging clients to use its internet banking facility, NetBank. "Already it is supported by newer technology than the Beltel service, and its functionality will be enhanced even further in the future."
Standard Bank says it will continue to offer its current AutoBel service until the year 2000 but it is currently developing a new PC banking platform for Beltel using internet protocol.
In response to criticism that Beltel is becoming outmoded, Coetzee says the only component that is perceived to be outdated is the presentation protocol, or visual display of the service, which is Videotex. Videotex is outdated when compared to modern graphical presentation technologies like HTML and Java on the Web.
Beltel will evolve into a more comprehensive trading environment, supporting the modern graphical technologies that are used on the Internet.
"Our plans in this respect are under way but we are not at liberty to discuss details of the plan," Coetzee says. "It is important to note, however, that over 80 percent of the Internet's use in this country is e-mail. Beltel is a trading environment, where the largest part of the South African financial community transact. We are therefore not directly in competition with the Internet."