Barclays seeks to be a digital banking pioneer

Barclays is making its biggest commitment to digital as it prepares to relaunch all of its sites and “raise the bar” across the banking industry.

Barclays

It’s understood to be revamping all its sites, including barclays.co.uk and barclaycard.co.uk, to add customisable features including desktop apps and widgets across the financial services group’s online properties.

The bank will allow its 15.2m UK customers to personalise the sites and will offer a multi-platform banking service as it seeks to bring its customers “the best digital offering”. The sites, to launch within 6-12 months, will be redesigned in-house.

As part of its digital plans, Barclays is recruiting for roles such as content producers, writers and developers. It’s also seeking a “search guru” to increase traffic to its sites.

It’s also unserstood to be planning to invest more in mobile. Barclaycard recently launched its largest mobile ad campaign (nma 23 July 2009).

A source close to Barclays said, “It’s keen to be seen as a pioneer. It wants to push boundaries, keep designing new things and evolving. This is its biggest digital investment.”

Toby Clark, head of financial services at market research company Mintel, said, “Banks need to have a good online presence as it’s the main way people interact with them.”

Upcoming research from Mintel will show three-quarters of internet users prefer online to any other channel for checking their balance.

A Barclays spokesman said, “We’re continually investing in our online capability. While we can’t discuss future plans, a key priority is to ensure that our online service is relevant to customers.”

Barclays works with Dare and Walker-i for digital creative and media.

This story first appeared on newmediaage.co.uk