SAVINGS bank ING Direct opened a £3.5million call centre in Cardiff this morning.

The company is planning to create 300 jobs within three years at the Callaghan Square site.

The 38,000 sq ft call centre will enable the UK arm of ING to expand its team of customer service specialists.

Since its UK launch in May 2003, the bank claims to have acquired more than 750,000 customers for what it calls its "high interest, instant access savings account."

It also claims to be bucking the trend for "offshoring" customer service operations to Asia.

ING customers are currently served by the bank's call centre in Reading, which employs a staff of 450.

ING said its IT infrastructure was giving it an edge in its call handling and has contributed to a high satisfaction level among its customers.

UK chief executive Lindsay Sinclair said: "We believe our growing customer base deserves the best service possible and in our view that will be delivered from Cardiff and our existing Reading hub.

"Cardiff was our first choice location for many reasons: the strong heritage of call centre service in Wales, cost and space efficiency, and the close proximity to our Reading call centre for effective management."

The investment in the capital has been backed by a Regional Selective Assistance grant from the Assembly.

Assembly economic development minister Andrew Davies said: "ING Direct's investment underlines the competitiveness of Wales as a location for high-quality contact centres.

"Recent research shows that staff turnover in Welsh call centres is the lowest in the UK and staff salaries have overtaken the UK average.

"I'm delighted that a company of ING Direct's calibre is moving in."

The centre aims to open for business on March 8.