Banknorth Group Launches Online Banking in Six States for Its Eight Banking Affiliates; Strong 'eCare' Customer Service Component Defines New Service.Business Editors PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 2001 Banknorth Group, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : BKNG), headquartered in Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine, with a 2004 population of 63,882. Portland is Maine's cultural, social and economic capital. Tourists are drawn to Portland's historic Old Port district along Portland Harbor, which is at the mouth of the Fore River and part , has introduced online banking for its more than 1 million customer households in six states, giving customers the ability to do banking transactions online as well as pay bills electronically. The company also unveiled new web sites for each of its banking affiliates and a strong customer support service component called Customer eCare to encourage online use among potential customers. The website is located at http://www.banknorth.com. "It's part of a major e-commerce e-commerce, commerce conducted over the Internet, most often via the World Wide Web. E-commerce can apply to purchases made through the Web or to business-to-business activities such as inventory transfers. initiative we made a commitment to last year," said William J. Ryan, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Banknorth Group, Inc., one of the 50 largest commercial banking companies in the U.S. with $18.2 billion in assets and nearly 300 branches at banking affiliates in six northeast states. "It's the first step in our multi-year online strategy for the company and its affiliates." The new program offers traditional online banking and bill paying services 24 hours a day via the Internet, but also gives customers an added Customer eCare component that puts a skilled person together with customers who have questions or problems, seven days a week. "We're using our online banking services to take customer service to the next level," said Brian Wood, executive vice president and head of Banknorth's eCommerce Development Department in Portland. "Customer dissatisfaction with other banks' online banking services, we found, stemmed stemmed adj. 1. Having the stems removed. 2. Provided with a stem or a specific type of stem. Often used in combination: stemmed goblets; long-stemmed roses. from the inability to talk to someone if there were questions. So in developing our program, we took good old-fashioned customer service that we are known for at the branch level and applied it to online banking via the Internet. It's what sets us apart." Online banking is rapidly on the rise among consumers in the northeast and nationwide. Studies of the six states in the Banknorth market area show that a little less than half of all households have a computer, which is on par with national statistics. Studies have also shown that about half of all households use some form of online banking, but that in three years, those figures are expected to double. Sign up takes less than 5 minutes Signing up for online banking takes less than five minutes, Wood said. Customers go to their bank's web site and are invited to sign up for online banking. After filling out a simple form, within minutes they can view their account and conduct transactions. New web sites for member banks also launched The new online initiative launched by Banknorth this week also included newly designed web sites for the company and its eight banking affiliates. A pilot study conducted with 280 customers and employees who used and tested the new sites and the online banking program showed positive results in all areas - from navigation and ease of use to lack of clutter and lack of down time. Security features solid "In addition to customer service and ease of use, security and privacy were other issues we focused on in developing the online service," said Wood. "We put resources into building a secure site, from the 128-bit encrypted en·crypt tr.v. en·crypt·ed, en·crypt·ing, en·crypts 1. To put into code or cipher. 2. Computer Science technology to building an entire back up system for each component in the e-commerce arena. We also set strict internal guidelines guidelines, n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. before building the system, and joined forces with technology partners that could help build and offer a secure site. We received high marks in all areas of security from top online security firms." Banknorth Group operates banking subsidiaries in six northeastern states. In Maine, where the company is headquartered, they operate through Peoples Heritage Bank, NA; in New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). through Bank of New Hampshire, NA; in Massachusetts through First Massachusetts Bank, NA; in Vermont through The Howard Bank, NA; Franklin Lamoille Bank, NA; and First Vermont Bank, NA; in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of through Evergreen evergreen, term commonly used as synonymous with conifer and applied also to all those broad-leaved plants that bear green leaves throughout the year. Of the latter, most are plants of the tropics, subtropics, and other areas where the growing season is prolonged (e. Bank, NA; and in north central Connecticut through GBT GBT Green Bank Telescope (Pocahontas County, West Virginia) GBT Gay/Bisexual/Transgender GBT Group on Basic Telecommunications GBT Ground-Based Transceiver GBT General Business Technology GBT Great Books Tutorial , a division of First Massachusetts Bank, NA. The web site addresses of the various banks are: Peoples Heritage Bank http://www.peoplesheritage.com Bank of New Hampshire http://www.banknh.com First Massachusetts Bank http://www.firstmass.com GBT, a division of First Massachusetts Bank, NA http://www.gbtbank.com First Vermont Bank http://www.firstvermont.com Franklin Lamoille Bank http://www.franklinlamoille.com Howard Bank http://www.thehowardbank.com Evergreen Bank http://www.evergreenny.com Customers can also access any of the above banks through the Banknorth Group corporate web site address, which is http://www.banknorth.com. Banknorth Group also operates a variety of insurance agencies in New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. as subsidiaries of Morse, Payson & Noyes, Insurance, its lead agency; a money management firm, The Stratevest Group, NA; an investment subsidiary, Heritage Investment Planning Group; and a leasing company, Banknorth Leasing. Other subsidiaries and divisions provide services in mortgage banking, asset based lending, private banking, merchant services Merchant services is the name given in the United States to a broad category of financial services intended for use by businesses. In its most specific use, it usually refers to the service that enables a business to accept a transaction payment by use of the customer's credit or and other financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. . |
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