Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/1999/07/05/scots_bank_debuts_isp_package/

Scots bank debuts ISP package

And it's free – so no tight-fisted Scots jokes please

By Lucy Sherriff

Posted in On-Prem, 5th July 1999 14:51 GMT

Following hot on the heels of Barclays Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland is launching its own ISP operation, called Quista. Operating through a portal site, its service will offer online banking, news and other information facilities. MSN is believed to be supplying the news for the site. The Royal Bank of Scotland says that its research indicates that 60 per cent of people are still paying a subscription fee for their ISP. Only 26 per cent of respondents said cost was their primary motive for choosing a particular service provider, while 34 per cent said that recommendation and customer service were more important to them. "Becoming an ISP is another building block in the bank's range of complementary services which include branch banking, telephone banking and Internet banking. Customers can access the bank through any of these channels as and when they want," said Bill Bougourd, the bank's head of electronic communications. ®