RaboDirect.ie voted Best Financial Services Website

Friday 20th November 2009: RaboDirect.ie Ireland's only AAA rated bank has been awarded the 2009 Best Financial Services Website accolade at the annual Golden Spider Awards ceremony which took place on Thursday 19th November at a gala black-tie event in Dublin's Burlington Hotel.

RaboDirect.ie fought off stiff competition from contenders like Aib.ie, Halifax, AXA Insurance, Zurich Life, Hibernian Aviva, Bestquote.ie and GetCover.ie to win this prestigious accolade. The Golden Spider Awards honour Irish individuals and organisations for excellence in web based business strategies. The category for Best Financial Services Website recognises innovative, transparency and interactive delivery of financial related products, services, advice or information to an online audience.

Commenting on their latest win, Roel van Veggel, General Manager at RaboDirect said, "RaboDirect.ie has pioneered online banking in Ireland by offering new and existing customers revolutionary online tools that empower them to take control of their money 24/7, 365 days of the year. In a year when the banking crisis hit hard we are delighted to see that we are still recognized as leading the way in internet banking and online customer communications in Ireland."

According to the Golden Spider Awards judging panel, "There are very few compliments being paid to banks these days but with informative, interesting and varied content RaboDirect's web site fully deserves the accolade that it has received. The website language is lively and refreshingly free of jargon and the style is friendly and sincere, complementing the company's branding in other traditional media".

Since its conception in May 2005 Rabodirect.ie has grown its customer base to more than 60,000. During this time the winning website has continued to deliver an enhanced and relevant customer experience online 24/7, including podcasts from financial experts, a user-friendly online investor centre, interactive online tools including most recently social media forums for new and existing customers to communicate openly with the online bank on various topics and issues of the day. It also employs some of the latest in Web 2.0 functionality, including RSS feeds which enable visitors to access up-to-date information in their own time while being notified automatically by RSS alerts as new content becomes available.