SINGAPORE - OCBC mobile banking customers can now type into any messaging app - be it WhatsApp, Facebook, Gmail or Instagram - to initiate a funds transfer to anyone's mobile number.

This is possible with the roll out of OCBC Keyboard, which works within any mobile app to activate the funds transfer. The transfer rides on the OCBC Pay Anyone feature in the OCBC Mobile Banking app.

"With OCBC Keyboard, we are embedding payments in our customers' lives and making it completely frictionless for them to pay while they go about (with) everyday tasks like chatting on WhatsApp, sending an e-mail, browsing items on Carousell or browsing the Internet," said Mr Aditya Gupta, OCBC Bank's head of e-business in Singapore.

Users need to download the latest version of the OCBC Mobile Banking app, and select the OCBC Keyboard as the default keyboard.

After this one-time setup, the OCBC Pay Anyone icon will appear on the keyboard that shows up in apps like WhatsApp, Instagram and Gmail. Clicking on the icon will initiate the payment process.

Users just need to enter the mobile number of the recipient and the amount to transfer. They also need to enter their banking username and password, followed by a one-time password sent to their mobile phone to authenticate the transaction.

Users of PayNow will receive the money instantly. PayNow is an instant fund transfer service launched last month that maps people's bank accounts to their mobile phone number or NRIC.

If the recipients have yet to register for PayNow, they will receive a Web link via SMS. They need to click on the link and enter a sender-supplied six-digit passcode to receive the money in their bank account. As the transfer is via the Fast online interbank funds transfer system, the recipient does not need to be an OCBC account holder.

Fast has been a feature within the OCBC Mobile Banking app since 2014, allowing its customers to send money directly to any bank account in Singapore using just the recipient's mobile number, e-mail address or Facebook account. It was revolutionary because senders need not know the recipient's bank account details to make a transfer.

The OCBC Keyboard only works on Android smartphones.

Since October last year, senders can also initiate fund transfers on the OCBC Mobile Banking app by speaking to their Apple iPhone or sending a text message from Apple iMessage.