Maybank Singapore has enhanced its mobile banking app to allow customers to make peer-to-peer payments via text message. Both the app and the new service, Maybank Mobile Money, run on the Mobeix platform from mobile solutions provider Tagit, the company said in an announcement.

Mobile Money also enables person-to-person social payments, such as the splitting of bills or taxi fares, payment of fees to small businesses, and payment for purchases conducted through social media, the bank said.

The service lets Maybank's online banking customers send money directly to any Singapore-registered mobile number; the funds can then be collected via any Singapore bank account.

Noting increased usage of social networks and video among smartphone users as well as Singapore's top five ranking for app usage, Maybank said it saw the opportunity to further innovate its digital services.

"Consumer behavior is changing rapidly, aided by newer technologies," Lim Kuo Siong, the bank's head of information technology and virtual banking, said in a news release. "With the growth of Singapore's smartphone and tablet penetration, we see a greater reliance on our trusted devices for daily tasks, including financial transactions. ... Enabling payments directly to a mobile number will further reduce reliance on cash and [checks] and offer customers an alternative payment method that fits perfectly with our mobile lifestyles."

Maybank SG, the bank's mobile banking app, launched in 2012 for iOS and Android.

Learn more about Money Transfer/P2P and Mobile Banking.