Westpac Bank - New Zealand

• In 2014, Westpac New Zealand became the first bank globally that launched a banking app with AR. The app was used for account management and brought checking balances and spending patterns to life by mapping them out in a 3D image.
• The user downloads the Westpac app and registers the relevant banking cards to activate their account. By sliding their credit or debit card under their phone the camera is activated. Because the app is activated by authorized cards, one person's app cannot read someone else's credit card.
• Three-dimensional bar charts present information on the customer's balances, transaction history, spend locations, and how the money was spent. The app also provides a summary of loyalty points, notifies how many days are left to pay a bill, and allows the user too pay their bills on the spot.
• Westpac has also included an augmented reality navigation feature that helps users find the nearest ATMs in all of its international locations globally.
• Westpac developed the app in the hope that would allow customers to better control their credit card spending.
• The Westpac Mobile Banking App has more than one million downloads and has a rating of 4.03 out of 5 stars.

Axis Bank

• Axis Bank's Mobile App has AR features. The feature "Near Me" allows the user to get an AR view of ATMs and branches that are near the user's location. It allows the user to filter locations between 1 km -5 km radius.
• The feature also allows users to see in which stores they can pay with Axis eDGE reward points, properties that were pre-approved for home loans, and restaurants where the user can get Axis Bank Dining Delights by using their Axis Bank card.
• The "Near Me" feature can be accessed without logging into the app, therefore, making it available to whomever downloads the app.
• The app allows users to see "genuine streets in a 360degree mode, through their phone camera."
• The app also offers a "collection of organizations like pre-login charge installments that empowers clients to save time while paying different bills."
• "Near Me" was created to enable customers to easily locate bank branches and ATMS.
• The app has more than 10 million downloads and has a 4.73 rating out of 5 stars.

Summary of Findings

• During the initial hour of research, we focused on finding use cases for AR/VR for banks.
• Two case studies were found where banks made use of AR technology in their apps.
• There are multiple examples available in the public domain where AR/VR was applied in the banking and finance sector.