Web security cracks egg call centre resolve

The Prudential's online bank, egg, has been forced to go back on its promise not to build a new call centre with analysts blaming decreasing consumer confidence in online security.

egg told silicon.com last April it would not need more than one call centre because it would deal with customer queries through the website. But now the virtual bank is building a 1,500 seat call centre in Derby, UK.

Robin Duke-Woolley, senior consultant at Schema research, told silicon.com that egg is worried about customers losing trust in online banking.

He said: "The recent events with Powergen and Barclays have a knock-on effect in the marketplace. Serious security breaches make customers worried and any additional channel, such as telephone, will improve the level of customer service."

But Steve Morrell, consultant at research company Datamonitor, claims the timing of the U-turn is crucial for possible customer acquisition.

"egg wants to desperately show customers that they can be trusted. The call centre has been in the pipeline for quite some time, but the announcement comes at a strategic moment," he said.

Duke-Woolley concluded: "egg's share price has been through a rough ride since its recent IPO and a rapid customer increase could strengthen the bank's market value."

A spokesperson at egg told silicon.com: "We discovered our customers prefer both online and telephone support and could not predict the demand for telephone services last year. We want to reassure our customers through different channels."