AIB’s internet banking service hosted over 1.1 million personal banking visits – 48pc higher than the same time last year.
According to the bank, during February some 155,000 customers used the AIB online personal banking service seven times on average, generating more than 300,000 payments and 1.3 million online statements of bank and credit card accounts. This is the equivalent of up to 13 million visits to the bank in a year.
Across the world, banks are endeavouring to push customers towards conducting bill payments and fund transfers electronically or by phone instead of visiting branches, freeing staff to focus on higher level customer services such as dealing in mortgages and pensions. Manual processes such as bill payments, lodgments and funds transfers cost banks dearly in terms of resources.
Speaking with siliconrepublic.com, David Roberts, senior manager of AIB eBusiness & Payments, said: “A lot of people feel that the internet and e-business model went downhill with the share prices, but the reality is that it is alive and delivering real benefits in various industries, particularly banking.
“We are seeing strong growth through our internet model. The strategy is to give customers the convenience of self-service for routine transactions and leave the branches open for our staff to interact on key services such as arranging mortgages and pensions,” Roberts said.
By John Kennedy
