NatWest Cards pulls together IT and marketing

A recent customer relationship management (CRM) initiative by NatWest Cards required unprecedented co-operation between the bank's marketing and IT departments, according to Tony Davis, head of customer marketing for NatWest Card Services.

Speaking in an exclusive Silicon.com video interview, Tony Davis, head of customer marketing for NatWest Card Services, said the £2m project was about expanding satisfaction among the credit card's customer base using CRM.

He said: "IT was the facilitator. But while marketing has its own language, it's fair to say IT has its own jargon too."

Operations and finance teams were also involved, making project management of the CRM implementation all the more important.

The company has a long-established CRM strategy, but like many types of businesses it is moving from paper, telephones, and simple computer databases to integrated, Internet-based CRM.

NatWest's Davis said: "The system can be scaled for the Internet and other interactive media. For example, we're looking at the customisation of Web sites as they're used by certain individuals. Also, of course, there's email. We'd all like to ditch some of the very expensive direct marketing programmes for email marketing."

You can see the full video interview with Tony Davis in our Finance channel http://www.silicon.com/a35313 ).