First Direct

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First Direct

First Direct and Fujitsu started working together in 1997 when they produced the world's first Java-based 24-hour electronic banking service over a 12 month period, from development to testing through to implementation. Since launching its Internet banking service, First Direct has attracted more than 300,000 customers, with an additional 10,000 customers subscribing each month.

The Challenge

In today’s economic climate, customer loyalty is no longer a foregone conclusion. Gone are the days when a business could survive solely on the products and services it offered, safe in the knowledge that no matter how it treated its customers they would remain loyal, simply because they had shopped or banked with them for many years. It has taken some time, but businesses have now realised that the rules have changed and due to fierce competition, especially in the world of retail banking, loyalty counts for little. It costs a business five times more to attract a new customer than it does to retain one. But doesn’t creating loyalty boil down to giving customers what they want, rather than what a business might think they want? By listening to its customers, First Direct has not only managed to increase its customer base, but has inspired loyalty as well

The Solution

By building on the strength and success of its unique 24-hour telephone banking service, First Direct continued to respond to customer demand for flexible banking and developed a multi-channel service. Whether by telephone, the Internet or even using their mobile phone - customers have access to a wide range of banking and money related products and services. It is this multi-channel approach that First Direct believes will create loyalty amongst its customers. Research conducted by Datamonitor has predicted Internet banking in Europe will grow by 30 percent to 21 million by 2004, with 5.3 million of these online banking customers expected to be UK based. First Direct has seen a 26% growth in its customer base since the introduction of its Internet banking services. Since launching, the service has attracted more than 300,000 customers, with an additional 10,000 customers subscribing each month. These new channels are underpinned by Fujitsu’s CRM Integration solution kit for financial services. This is a ‘plug and play’ fully integrated solution that has formed the basis of a free and secure Internet banking service which enables First Direct customers to check their accounts, pay bills and transfer money between accounts online. Additionally, it is fully integrated with First Direct’s existing 24-hour service and new channels such as WAP can be added with minimum effort.

The Benefits

Fujitsu's solution not only integrates existing channels but also ensures that adding new channels and services in the future can be managed incrementally. Introducing new channels and services faster means greater flexibility and responsiveness and lower set-up and maintenance costs.

The Implementation

The ease with which Fujitsu’s CRM Integration solution allows new channels to be added is important to First Direct. Introducing channels faster means lower costs when bringing them to market and cheaper maintenance of the channels once they are operational.

The Expertise

The relationship between the two companies began in 1997 when First Direct asked Fujitsu (formerly ICL) to develop the world’s first Java-based 24-hour, electronic banking service for them. The two companies then worked together over a 12-month period to develop and test the new Internet banking service.