TSB unveils plans for phone banking service
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.TSB has declared war on Midland's Firstdirect telephone banking service by announcing plans for an all-hours system that will be available to its 7 million customers from the summer of 1994, writes John Willcock.
Firstdirect pioneered the phone banking concept four years ago and now has 400,000 customers. It is piling on 10,000 clients a month, 80 per cent of them from rival banks.
Kevin Newman, chief executive of Firstdirect, attacked TSB's plans yesterday as 'a recipe for disaster'. He said that by linking phone banking to TSB's branch network, instead of enjoying the cost savings of an unencumbered stand-alone phone service, TSB would not emulate Firstdirect's profitability.
TSB said it would not be closing branches following the launch of the phone service. Instead, the two would complement each other.
A spokesman for TSB denied that linking the phone service to the branches would dent profits. 'We've done a lot of customer research. This is just one channel of distribution. Unlike Firstdirect, we've got an existing customer base of 7 million. That's not a negative factor at all.'
Chris Ellwood, chief executive, maintained yesterday that by setting up a service centre in Newport staffed by 260 financial advisers, TSB was putting itself in 'an enviable position in the highly competitive banking sector'.
The TSB service will allow customers to discuss their overdrafts, pay bills, order statements, determine balances, and transfer money between accounts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Lloyds Bank is launching a pilot phone banking service in the spring of 1994 for 10,000 selected customers.
Hamish McRae, page 31
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments