Belfast centre aids £200m Sainsbury's transactions

A Belfast-based e-commerce centre is aiding a leading supermarket chain with its additional financial services worth an estimated £200 million.

HBOS e-commerce centre in Belfast had overall responsibility for the Sainsbury’s Bank IT project which took a team of over 70 specialist software engineers in Belfast, Edinburgh and West Yorkshire 12 months to design, test and implement the new site.

The registration and servicing of savings and credit card accounts on the Sainsbury’s Bank website, which was relaunched today, is expected to handle £200m worth of transactions in its first year.

Commenting on the system, Derek Bottom, Deputy Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s Bank, who visited Belfast recently to finalise the implementation of the service, said: "This added functionality enables customers to register for and manage online our highly competitive savings and credit card products and the redesign makes our website even easier to use.

“The expertise of the Belfast team has been fundamental to the successful design & delivery of the service. We have nearly two million customers who are now able to make a range of transactions using this service. We are confident that its functionality will help to expand our customer base as well as adding value to the service we offer to existing account-holders.”

Recent research from NOP World Financial found that online purchasing of financial services products had grown by 31% in 2003. The research also indicates that this growth is expected to continue in 2004.

Mr Bottom said that the Sainsbury’s Bank website usage had increased by 600% in the last three years and that a significant proportion of its products were now purchased online.

High Street bank HBOS was formed in 2001 by the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland. The e-commerce development centre currently has a staff of 50 and is based within the HBOS Contact Centre in Ormeau Business Park (The Gasworks).

(MB)