Abbey National is introducing a revised version of its interactive digital television service on Sky Active, featuring fewer pages and more up-to-date information.
The UK bank is taking advantage of Sky Interactive's wireless mark-up language (WML) which will be used to update the site. This language, similar to that used on the Internet, allows the bank to revise its pages instantly offering customers a more up to date service. Abbey National's current TV banking service on Sky Active will also migrate to WML technology later this year.
In an effort to provide a more user-friendly experience, Abbey is moving to condense the amount of information displayed onscreen from 120 to 20 pages, with telephone numbers for further information displayed more prominently. The design of the site has also been updated to reflect the new Abbey National retail branding.
Becky Wood, Abbey National's new head of retail e-commerce, says: "Since we became involved in iDTV area in 2000, we have learned how our customers use it and have updated our service to reflect this."
Wood takes over from former post-holder Ambrose McGinn, who has moved onto wealth management and long-term savings at the bank. Wood was previously in charge of Abbey's e-commerce development effort. The shake-up is part of a recent restructuring which has seen the e-commerce portfolio brought under the brief of Janet Connor, Abbey's retail marketing director.