Scandinavian banking conglomerate Nordea is celebrating the recruitment of 2 million customers for its Solo Internet banking channel.
Nordea proclaims Solo the most widely used Internet bank in the world, with over 5 million monthly log-ins.
Hans Dalborg, group CEO of Nordea, says the bank has set a target for 2.7 million online customers by the end of 2001. He considers the branch network and the Internet banking services as integrated and complementary distribution concepts in a multi-channel strategy. Dalborg does not believe that Internet banking as a separate business would be successful.
"It is...widely recognised that not even huge investments in Internet banking make the customer commitment to the bank as tight as a well-maintained personal relationship with the local bank officer. It is a combination of a positive use of technological development and selective personal services that will be succesful," he says.
Solo currently passes 6 million banking transactions a month, and has 200,000 customers registered for online share dealing. An associated shopping mall, Solo Market has 500 e-merchants online.