CIA wins Halifax £15m Net task

Halifax has appointed CIA Medianetwork to the £15m launch account for Internet bank IF.com, after a pitch against Mediacom TMB.

The agency will work on a multi-media campaign to launch the bank with The Union, which will be responsible for the creative work. This will break shortly before IF launches in July.

The Union has also created a £1.5m recruitment campaign for the bank, which needs to recruit 1,200 staff before its launch.

Meanwhile, Quantum New Media Services has been appointed as the online buying and planning agency for the launch campaign.

Details of IF were originally revealed under the working title Greenfield. Halifax finally announced a name last month. IF stands for “intelligent finance”.

IF will offer traditional banking products, such as a current account, a savings account and a credit card.

However, chief executive Jim Spowart promises the products are so revolutionary they will turn the banking sector on its head. He declined to give further details until closer to the launch.

Halifax hopes the new bank can emulate the success of Prudential’s Egg, which built a completely new customer base.

IF aims to make a profit in its third year and to attract 2 million customers by 2004.