Standard Bank has become the second South African bank in a fortnight to announce a transactional banking application in the Windows Phone store, signalling growing interest in the Microsoft smartphone platform.

The Standard Bank app for Windows Phone — announced just 12 days after First National Bank brought its app to the platform for the first time — offers a range of features, including available and actual account balances, graphs to allow users to compare the state of all their accounts including net balances, and the ability to search for and view specific transactions and provisional statements.

The app also allows customers to transfer funds between linked bank accounts, pay beneficiaries preloaded onto their online banking profile, buy airtime from all the major South African network operators, and send money to other local Standard Bank customers. This last feature can be used by typing in the recipient’s mobile number if they are registered for Standard Bank’s mobile banking service.

Like other banks’ apps, the Standard Bank for Windows Phone app allows users to locate their nearest ATM or branch and see a map of how to get there. They can also view financial indicators for commodities, foreign exchange rates and shares.