The next phase will be to drive Internet users to online banking and Botha is confident Absa's oft-praised Website will be a tantalising enticement. Over time the bank wants to build a detailed database of user profiles, allowing it to target specific products and services at specific customers using permission marketing. For the moment it's not trying to fool customers with a value proposition that doesn't have much value. Similarly, Absa has wisely kept things simple. Standard Bank's bluebean is still struggling to communicate what it's all about.
Consumers are confused.
Botha says with jest that Absa will never have books and CDs for sale at its Website. The lingering question, though, is whether the bank, until recently seen as the SA banking sector's laggard in e-business, can succeed in moving users from a free service to paying for something. It has embarked on a difficult strategy, variations of which were the undoing of many dot-com hopefuls. The bank, better known for its e-business snafus, s . . . So everyone thinks M-Web's plan to restrict access to its portal to its paying subscribers onl . . .