Canada Trust will add another first to its record with the national rollout of its personal banking product CT Connect on May 21.

While other banks are still testing pc banking, Canada Trust will be the first financial institution to have it available nationally.

Canada Trust was also the first to market with phone banking when it launched EasyLine in January 1993.

CT Connect has been testing in Burlington, Ont. since last October.

This is not an Internet product, although Canada Trust customers can get bank balances and stock quotations over the World Wide Web as a prelude to CT Internet banking down the road.

CT Connect is a direct connection from the customer’s computer to Canada Trust, via modem.

Customers can download information about the business they have with Canada Trust, from accounts and loans to mortgages and mutual funds.

From a transactional point of view, transfers of funds and bill payments would be handled the same way as over the phone.

Custom views of an individual’s financial affairs can be constructed or budgets can be developed and then exported to other financial software products like Quicken or Microsoft Money.

Jim Sallas, Canada Trust assistant vice-president of marketing, banking and information services, says the initial launch will be national in scope, excluding Quebec, with a relatively modest advertising campaign in the beginning.

He says the bank does not want to exceed capacity limits on the help desk or its ability to distribute software.

‘We’re going to go at it pretty strong but we’re not going to blow the doors off,’ says Sallas.

London, Ont.-based Cormark Communications is handling the creative component of the campaign, with the media portion centralized at Media Buying Services of Toronto.

Radio and newspaper will be the primary media for the first leg of the campaign.

All advertising will include a 1-800 number.

Direct mail will be used to test the product against various lists, as well to market to existing Canada Trust clients.

Sallas says the launch of CT Connect is one of those rare opportunities to generate new customers and get customers to switch from competitive institutions.

‘These are the types of major strategic changes, like the introduction of abm machines and telephone banking, that provide a window to actually move customers from one institution to another, because you have a significant advantage, aside from features or price on existing products.’