Customers abandon High Street Egg's rivals on the country's High Streets have been slow to react. They made a bet on the notorious inertia of bank customers, who are more likely to change their partner than their bank account. But the better rates offered by telephone and online banks like Egg and First Direct are slowly changing that. The strategies may be different, but most online banks have one thing in common - a quirky name. Egg, for example, offers its customers two levels of service.
Clients have the option to talk to a real person on the phone if they have a query.
It will be a pure internet bank. Compare this to Egg, were 1m customers are not enough to get out of the red. Others try to attract clients with new financial products. If the current account is 200 in the red, but the savings account holds 500, IF will pay interest on the 300 balance. Other banks would both charge high interest rates for the current account in the red, and pay much lower interest on the savings account - so the customer loses out.