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SMEs lose out as banks get online services wrong

Banking up the wrong tree...

By Kate Hanaghan

Published: 3 August 2001 15:29 BST

UK banks have wasted their time in setting up business portals for SME customers.

Generic sites which were established by banks as separate online entities include clearlybusiness.com from Barclays and Freeserve, successsforbusiness.com, run by Lloyds TSB and the now defunct Work24.co.uk, from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

A report from analyst house Forrester has slammed these efforts and advises that UK banks scrap these portals and instead channel their efforts into their main websites.

Charlotte Hamilton, associate analyst at Forrester Research, explained that these portals do not provide information that is specific enough to the SMEs' financial needs. She added: "Banks are floundering because they are not managing to broaden their customer base."

Just four banks - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and NatWest - serve three quarters of the estimated 3.7 million UK SMEs.

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