Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Halifax had intended to launch the first phase of its telephone and internet banking system, Intelligent Finance (IF), today, but it has announced that this will not now happen until August.
The IF project, which is based in Edinburgh, has been delayed because of concerns that the system may not be ready to cope with the anticipated volume of transactions.

Jim Spowart, chief executive of IF, yesterday commented that, “it is disappointing for us all that we have not been able to meet the launch deadline we set ourselves. We simply cannot launch until we are sure we can handle the anticipated levels of customer activity.”

Halifax estimates that the delay will cost between £1m and £2m, but James Crosby, chief executive of Halifax, maintains that these losses will be made up quickly when IF opens for business in August.

IF aims to attract 500,000 customers in its first year of operation and Halifax remains determined that this will be achieved.

Several other internet banking initiatives have suffered from teething problems in the initial stages. Most notably, the Abbey National venture Cahoot and Prudential's Egg.

IF now intends to launch its phone bank service in August and claims that the internet service will follow soon after.

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