BankDirect is on the way out.

﻿ASB Bank will close its internet and phone banking offshoot BankDirect and migrate its customers – who now number fewer than 10,000 – to ASB proper.

BankDirect was set up in 1997 when banks around the world regarded branch networks as a drag on profitability and were keen to offer cheaper mortgages and better savings rates to tech-savvy customers who would bank over the internet and by phone.

However, since then, phone and internet banking have become universal.

The advantages and incentives associated with BankDirect disappeared in 2010 when ASB brought its interest rates into line with those of its main ASB brand.

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That left BankDirect as something of an anachronism, offering only a subset of the services offered by ASB proper.

BankDirect was believed to have about 30,000 customers as of 2012.

But spokeswoman Georgina Bond said it now had fewer than 10,000 customers, "a number of which are inactive and more than 70 per cent of whom also have a banking relationship with ASB".

ASB said it would gradually switch BankDirect customers over to its main ASB banking platform "over the coming months".

It promised to make the migration "as seamless as possible".

"We'll contact you again to let you know when your switch-over is happening," it said in an email to BankDirect customers, assuring them "your banking will transition to the ASB products and services most suited to the way you bank now, with the most comparable fees".

"During this process we'll take care of all the details like setting up your account and transferring payments," it said.

ASB said BankDirect was a pioneer that challenged the banking industry by providing the cutting edge of digital banking services "but the world has changed".

Massey University banking expert David Tripe said ASB would have been weighing up the cost of maintaining the BankDirect brand and he didn't view it as providing "anything extra".