Alliance & Leicester banking on self-service

High street bank Alliance & Leicester (A&L) has reported strong growth in the use of its online channels.

The bank said more than 40 per cent of its core product sales came through its online business during the six months ending 30 June 2007. The bank made a pre-tax profit of £290m, up from £257m for the same period a year earlier.

The news reflects a trend for financial services organisations to encourage self-service for their customers. A&L said its business banking has also seen a surge in online business with 30 per cent of new business banking accounts opened through online channels.

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On the high street, the bank said it has increased the number of ATMs that can take deposits as well as offer withdrawals at 103 branches over the period.

The bank said 34 per cent of counter-based card transactions in branches with deposit-taking ATMs have now migrated to the machines, which it said was "improving productivity".

It is currently working on a replacement project around its core legacy systems for personal customer current accounts, savings and personal loans. It said the first fruits of the project will arrive in 2008.