ABN Amro's Net revolution for corporate clients

This week saw the Middle East launch of revolutionary new Internet banking services for ABN Amro's corporate clients. A comprehensive suite of e-banking, e-trade and e-treasury functions are on offer that will leave rivals out in the cold for some time.

First, consider the natural advantages of any Internet based service. This is a banking service that can be accessed from any PC, anywhere, at anytime. And the customer does not have to spend a cent on software or hardware to have the full advantages of the bank's massive computing power online.

Second, for traders ABN Amro offers the opportunity to do away with paperwork at a stroke, reduce the amount of time spent preparing documentation and a much easier way to keep track of deals. It is so simple to prepare a letter of credit with a template and send it via email.

Thirdly, for multinationals with regional operations or family trading groups in multiple locations, ABN Amro's new portal offers the chance to view bank accounts from different locations in one place. Credits in Bahrain, say can then be quickly transferred to cover debit balances in Dubai, saving interest charges by timely cash management.

Indeed, the foreign exchange and other financial services also available through this portal add up to a full e-treasury service online. This is the future of corporate banking, and a delight for financial departments to use, as regional pilot users such as TNT will testify.

Cost savings come directly through cheaper online charges and indirectly through the need for less people to handle financial functions. And in these competitive times anything that saves money is welcome and can be passed on to the bottom line.

ABN Amro claims to have spent around one billion euros in developing its online banking services, and this full service is now available across the Middle East, with a network of regional banks also plugged into the system where the giant Dutch bank is not present.

It is not often that a genuinely revolutionary product hits the region's banking market, but this is one occasion. Only Citibank can offer anything that come close to this online corporate banking service.