Swiss Life to launch integrated financial portal
Switzerland's leading life insurer, Swiss Life is to launch the country's first fully comprehensive financial portal.
The redsafe.com site will offer a range of online services including banking, securities trading and funds and insurance products from Swiss Life as well as other companies.
The service, to be launched at the beginning of next year, will be based in Zurich and will employ 40 people. If successful, it will quickly expand into other European markets.
Swiss Life says the new portal will give clients a complete overview of their
financial situation.
“Our research shows that there is a clear demand for this integration but it has to be together with independence and comprehensiveness,” says the venture’s chief executive officer, Volker Gerlach. “There is a whole range of products so choice is an important element.”
Swiss Life also intends to establish a British company by the end of the year to help businessmen moving between Britain and Switzerland.
The “Propeller” project has a start up budget of 25 million Swiss francs and will move into France, Germany and the Benelux countries if successful.
The company’s new head, David Kneeshaw, says “Propeller” will offer far more than a traditional relocation company.
“Relocation companies traditionally have tended to concentrate on the physical move and have provided some paperwork services as back-up,” he says, “We are making that our prime service and we’ll integrate all the different needs online through tax to visas to banking.”
“Propeller” will be aimed at company human resources departments.
The new initiatives are meant to complement Swiss Life’s existing e-business strategy, which began with the launch of an e-business division at the beginning of the year.
The launch also throws down the gauntlet to other financial service providers such as Credit Suisse, which is to make its online investment service available through Microsoft’s MSN portal.
by Michael Hollingdale
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