LloydsTSB acts to improve online service

Amid much criticism of high street banks' treatment of online bankers, LloydsTSB today announced measures to ensure that its internet customers get the same level of service as its telephone customers.

LloydsTSB has agreed a £16m deal to license Chordiant Software for its planned electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) system - making sure that it is consistent whether it communicates with customers via phone or via internet-based device.

However, some analysts are not convinced that banks are delivering what eCRM vendors promise. Martin Brampton, chief analyst at Bloor Research, told vnunet.com: "Recent experience with banks in this area is pretty dismal. They've automated their systems without really retaining control, and customers have not benefited.

"However, the principles behind what LloydsTSB is doing with Chordiant is sound, and Direct Line's implementation of Chordiant technology has resulted in few complaints. It's a sensible decision by Lloyds, and the other banks will probably have to follow suit."

LloydsTSB said once the system is up and running it would more tightly integrate customer service, whether customers are banking via the phone, internet, Wap phones or interactive TV.

The bank plans to have implemented the task manager in four to seven months and then expand it channel-by-channel until it covers all the ways it communicates with its customers.

Vendors claim that eCRM significantly increases the quality of customer information available, which can then be used for better customer service, more targeted direct marketing campaigns, and better exchanges of information within organisations.

In a study of online customer service performance by Rainier, published in July, LloydsTSB was ranked 38 among 78 of the FTSE100 tested. Its response time to a request for basic publicly available information was 23 hours and 12 minutes, according to the study.