Absa has completed the handover of its virtual Internet service provider (ISP) business to @lantic Internet, part of Vox Telecom.
Carl Louw, the bank's Internet channel head, says 100 000 customers have been successfully migrated.
"The sale happened very smoothly and the transition of customers went with a minimum of interruptions."
Asked about customer complaints, he conceded "there will be teething problems in any big migration," but the number of complaints in relation to the bigger effort was low.
Absa introduced free Internet access in January 2001 and set itself up as a virtual ISP to "get customers used to Internet banking. That was the main objective," says Louw.
Collateral was thousands of people gaining access to the Internet, generally, and e-mail. Louw adds that, in 2001, Internet access was limited, expensive and the way of the future.
Cumulatively Absa's Internet access (AIA) service "assisted more than 300 000 South Africans to gain access to the Internet".
But Louw says being an ISP is not a bank core function. In addition, the nature of the ISP business has changed. In 2001, it was mostly about raw access. Today, with broadband, it is "also about the value-added services".
"Broadband services are really ramping up, as is the demand for value-add like video-on-demand.
"It was not our core focus. Our focus was to create Internet access to encourage online banking. We reached that objective, we opened up the digital space for our customers and it is now time to pass them on to a specialised provider, rather than us, a bank meddling in the ISP space."
AIA was a marketing and customer acquisition tool, he says, "we never made any money out of it".
Absa 2.0
Louw says Absa's Web site is being revamped. "We will now focus on providing excellent content."
This implies "focused portal environments speaking to niche segments". Part of the first phase is implementing a youth portal built around lifestyle. Also contemplated is a "prosperity portal" for older or retired people, as well as communities of interest.
Louw says the bank, with more than nine million customers, will from June migrate its billing away from the SA Post Office and onto the Internet. "We are moving to electronic statement delivery across all products, starting with credit cards and vehicle financing.
"People really want this service, as immediacy is becoming more important and you can't rely on the postal service, which also takes time."
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