B's the word for bank's digital boost

Chief operating officer Debbie Crosbie said ‘B’ goes live this spring and will appeal to digital savvy customers of all ages.

She said thousands of consumers have helped to develop the mobile and tablet service in an effort to make it as user-friendly as possible. It will be CYBG plc’s first major product launch since demerging from National Australia Bank and floating on the London Stock Exchange last month.

Ms Crosbie said new technology is bringing enormous changes to the banking industry.

She added: “If I think about the changes that have happened in the last 10 years, banking is unrecognisable. I suspect that pace of change is only going to increase.

“It is fascinating to see how technology can change not only the way you deliver services but the way you find out what customers want. Lots of banks talk about customers designing technology. We have really done that because we have had more than 10,000 people look at the development on the way through, we have held workshops and we have really got beneath and behind what people like.”

Ms Crosbie, formerly a chief information officer at Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, said B’s features and language have been designed following feedback from customers, rather than what previous banks and websites provided. She added: “The whole ethos is about putting power back in the customers’ hands so they can manage money in the way they would like to manage money as opposed to the way banks tell you to manage money.”