Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1282646
2 NEWS 27.08.2020 A new look for eCabs' app user Interface ECABS has a newly redesigned user interface of its booking app – the first iteration in a series of improvements which eCabs is implementing follow- ing more than 350,000 downloads achieved earlier this year. "Behind the new design of eCabs' booking app user interface is not just an improved image but a reaffirma- tion of the app's success in deliver- ing a seamless user experience with reduced waiting times and extremely cheap prices," chief technology officer Patrick Bezzina said. "Our aim was always to build a trans- port technology framework that is fu- ture ready. At eCabs, technology has always underpinned the processes beneath our operations so that clients are provided with the convenience they seek," Bezzina said. "The new look of the eCabs app's user interface seeks to reflect the way that the technology developed and implemented by eCabs was always about simplifying the underlying lay- ers of complexity that give users max- imum convenience," he added. Whilst the app remains the compa- ny's main booking channel, eCabs is strengthening its multi-booking chan- nel platform, benefiting its clients with a myriad of booking options and 24/7 convenience. "The new user interface offers a seamless user experience, with all the functionalities it boasted before and with the added benefit of much better pricing and reduced waiting times," Simon Debono, eCabs' chief market- ing officer, said. "This complements eCabs' all im- portant sanitisation protocol, 24/7 customer care and our 'lost and found' procedure which are all part of the customary high standards that our clients are used to experiencing. This App update is another in a series of steps towards our commitment in guaranteeing a smoother and much improved user experience," Debono said. eCabs had introduced Malta's first cab booking app in 2013, before mov- ing away from third-party technology to build its own technology assets. eCabs app reaches 350,000 downloads, remains company's main booking channel LABOUR MEP Alfred Sant has pro- posed a system of conditionality for the granting of state aid, so that any bank receiving financial assistance be obliged to keep offering their regular consumer banking services. In a parliamentary question on the decrease in consumer banking servic- es, such as a decline in bank branches and the closing of ATMs, Sant warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could be used to justify a permanent reduction in these services. In response, Valdis Dombrovskis, Eu- ropean Commission vice-president, said Brussels was monitoring the regular de- crease in the number of bank branches and automated teller machines, and will be observing how retail banking servic- es are evolving throughout the EU. "e Commission admitted that the reduction in banking services may have an impact on access to basic banking services among EU citizens, especial- ly among those unfamiliar with digital banking. Transformations within the sector, such as the acceleration of digital payments at the expense of cash, may have an impact on financial inclusion," Sant said. A recent study by consulting firm Kearney projected that one in four bank branches across Europe will close down over the next three years, made worse by shifting customer habits due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the already accelerating trend in adopting digital banking tools. Many bank branches in Malta tempo- rarily closed their doors due to COV- ID-19 worries, but prior to this HSBC shut down eight branches across Malta to shift their focus towards online retail banking services. Sant tells Brussels to safeguard consumer banking as COVID-19 shutters more branches As banks move to digital, Alfred Sant questions the EU's commitment in protecting essential banking services