HBOS Caps 2002 with a £25m IT services deal

Financial services giant HBOS has awarded a £25m contract to Cap Gemini Ernst & Young to develop a unified service platform for its life assurance, savings and pensions products.

HBOS, formed through the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland, said the move will reduce customer services costs by 25 per cent. The platform will cover its Clerical Medical, Halifax Financial Services and St James's Place businesses.

Although a large deal - it sees the IT services company take on systems integration and applications software responsibility in addition to overall management - HBOS has recently veered away from using outside help.

In August it ditched a two-year-old, £700m agreement Bank of Scotland had signed with IBM Global Services. Two months earlier, a £277m outsourcing agreement with Xansa was canned.

However, this time round HBOS and CGE&Y said they are confident their work together will prove a success.