Two weeks after the local launch, the Virgin Group`s financial division, Virgin Money, has been surprised by the number of people applying for credit cards via the Internet, it says.
"What has surprised us most is the big volume of online applications [for credit cards] - we were expecting Internet applications to comprise about 15% of all applications, but it has been substantially more than that."
The Virgin Money Web site saw over 80 000 page impressions in its first 48 hours, he notes, adding that the unanticipated traffic volumes caused certain network crashes.
Fraudsters
Maxwell says Virgin Money has seen a moderate degree of attempted fraud in these two weeks, with syndicates probing the systems for loopholes.
"However, since we outsourced our entire IT development [of Virgin Money] to Absa, we fall under its protection - we are leveraging the benefits of partnering a large organisation. We have seen a handful of fraud cases, but they have been turned over to forensics and the police," he adds.
Excellent reception
Virgin Money has been warmly received by the South African market, he says. "There has been a big flurry of activity - the interest has exceeded all our expectations."
Maxwell is unwilling to reveal figures about the number of customers signed up with Virgin in the first two weeks, explaining it would be unwise to make other banks privy to that information. However, he says Virgin`s realistic goal is to have 135 000 active cards in circulation by this time next year, and 500 000 five years from now.
At Virgin Money`s SA launch on 26 June, Sir Richard Branson stated: "South African banks are ripping off credit card holders to the tune of R1.5 billion a year through inexplicably high charges and complex fee structures."
Virgin`s sales pitch has consistently been simplicity, as Maxwell explains: "The average South African credit card has up to 25 different charges; we have eight. We have only five fee numbers - no platinum, gold or silver cards - so everyone gets our best rates."
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