ASB Wins Awards For Technology Excellence

Monday, 29 August 2005, 5:12 pm
Press Release: ASB Bank

Media Release

29 August, 2005

ASB Wins Awards For Technology Excellence

* TUANZ Innovation Awards - Financial Services Award 2005

* CRM Contact Centre Awards - Online Award 2005

ASB has again been recognised for its innovative use of technology to
provide outstanding products and customer service.

In recognition of its longstanding leadership in online banking, ASB has
won the TUANZ Innovations Awards - Financial Services Award for 2005 for
continued innovation with its Fastnet Classic online banking service.
The pioneer of online banking in New Zealand with the 1997 launch of
Fastnet being years before its competitors, ASB has remained one step
ahead in technology, taking out the prestigious Financial Services Award
for the third time in four years. A number of technology and banking
firsts in the last year contributed to ASB's award including:

* First bank to offer a mobile phone payment service - Mobile
Prepay Topup

* First bank to offer foreign exchange ordering online

* First major bank to offer an online high interest savings
account - FastSaver

* First bank to implement two-factor authentication - Netcode -
offering customers a further level of security when transacting online

ASB cemented its technology leadership position with a second online
award at the 2005 CRM Contact Centre Awards. In winning the Online
(Web/Email) Award, ASB was again recognised for its excellence in
customer service; this time for the ease of access and quality of
responses to online and e-mail customer inquiries. ASB's specialist
"eTeam" at its contact centre processes over 10,000 customer inquiry
e-mails a month.

Clayton Wakefield, ASB's Head of Technology, Operations and Cards, is
delighted with this double shot of good news.

"These awards once again recognise the excellent job our people are
doing to deliver quality customer service. ASB has established a long
history of using technology to deliver leading edge products and
services to our customers. Our real time banking system, launched way
back in 1969, still delivers advantages to our customers, who tell us
they prefer to see their balances updated as soon as they transact.

"In the last year, our technology specialists and customer service teams
have continued to bring our customers the innovative technology-based
initiatives ASB is renowned for, raising the benchmark in banking even
further.

"The AC Nielsen consumer finance monitor* for the second quarter of 2005
places ASB clearly ahead of its competitors in the ratings for internet
banking services, with 91% of respondents rating ASB's service as
excellent or very good. The awards ASB has won highlight the importance
of providing excellent customer service through a combination of the
best technology and quality staff - one simply won't work without the
other."

Ends.

* AC Nielsen Consumer Finance Monitor - Banking Toplines, Quarter 2 2005

More information regarding the two award ceremonies can be found at:

http://www.tuanz.org.nz/tuanz/index.cfm?19185A4E-E018-8BD1-3222-F08E97661259

http://www.crmconsulting.co.nz/

© Scoop Media

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