Absa scrambles to resolve changeover hurdles

Johannesburg, 13 Jun 2002

Absa confirmed this morning that it has granted all its users another month`s worth of Internet-only access as it struggles to re-register users before the end of the month.

Users who have not already registered for the new premium Internet service offered by Absa have had their e-mail access cut off, but will still have Internet access in order to register before month-end, according to Dave Donkin, Absa group executive, e-business and information management.

Users complained they were unaware of the need to re-register to continue using the service. However, Donkin says users have long been aware of the forthcoming changes in the service since the company first announced its intention to cut off non-banking clients almost six months ago. He says users were e-mailed information on the changeover to the new premium service, "but it is obvious that many users haven`t been reading their e-mail".

Donkin explains that all users, both Absa clients and non-clients, are required to re-register "so that we can understand a little more about our user base". Absa is also in the process of moving clients over to the new Internet Solutions-provided infrastructure, a process that Donkin says requires re-registration.

The net effect is that the Absa call centre has been swamped with user queries, so much so that the bank has called in an additional 50 agents to deal with the queries. "Prior to this increase we had more than 100 agents dealing with this area," says Donkin, stressing that "this is a temporary measure and if we need more [agents], we will put in more".

The Absa call centre is also enhancing its self-help facilities "so that customers can get their questions answered online".

Reacting to comments that many callers to the centre had been cut off, Donkin says the call centre had a system in place to prevent users waiting in long queues. He says that if queues grew to more than 30 people, then users are turned away, leading to an impression that they had been cut off. Donkin says the bank is working on the system to make users more aware that they are not getting through because of the additional loads.

Another problem, which affects many of the users that have re-registered, is also dogging the transition. Donkin says the "additional functionality" of the new premium service requires users to upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer, because of the increased encryption abilities. Absa is making the new browser available on its site, but Donkin says "so many users have old browsers that we have put in a patch so that older browsers can be used as well". However, Absa is encouraging users to obtain the latest release.

Donkin says the bank`s Internet service has around 70 000 users, both Absa and non-Absa clients, most of which still need to register for the service. "The bulk of the 70 000 still have to register."

Absa`s contract with infrastructure supplier ICL ends in September.