The Internet-only National Interbank, as part of its plan to target people on the go, has introduced a service for truckers to bank online from their vehicles.
The Irvine, Calif., bank announced an agreement Tuesday with PNV Inc., a supplier of telecommunications, Internet, and entertainment services for the long-haul trucking industry, to offer banking services to its 1.5 million members.
Truckers can sign up for PNV-branded National Interbank accounts through pnv.com and use the bank's Personal Banker service to conduct all of their banking online, including paying bills and transferring funds.
National Interbank is also issuing co-branded, no-transaction-fee PNV credit and debit/ATM cards.
PNV, of Coral Springs, Fla., is offering members who sign up for an account two months of free Internet access and $2 off their monthly services for as long as they are members. Truckers who use the banking service also will receive discounts on other PNV services.
Professional truckers represent the "perfect demographic" for National Interbank, said Ronald C. Hynes, the bank's vice president of strategy partnerships, in an interview last month. They spend 200 to 250 nights a year on the road and average $65,000 of household income, he said.
"The Internet penetration among this industry mirrors the general market," Mr. Hynes said, and truckers' being on the road all the time means they "don't have time to stop by a bank."
Last month National Interbank announced a distribution deal under which Mail Boxes Etc. will deliver for free deposits made through any of its 3,400 franchises nationwide.
