With other financial service firms starting to offer similar services at competitive rates, the bank took another leap
forward. In January 2000, First Direct-by now describing itself as "the largest virtual bank in the world " - announced that it would transform itself into an e-bank that would set the standard for e-banking. At the heart of the strategy is a multichannel approach to banking that combines the bank's experience of telephone banking with the strengths of the Internet and the versatility of the mobile phone and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) tech -neologies to deliver a superior service at fiercely competing prices. As noted by chief executive Alan Hughes:"We are the first bank in the world to reengineer our entire business for the e-age."