ANZ Bank is continuously working towards a technology platform capable of supporting new business demands while fulfilling core processes in the fast paced digital era.

In the past year, the bank has upgraded its core banking system, and its ICT team is working across business units in a range of programmes around digital and data.

Craig Bunyan, general manager of technology, says upgrading ANZ’s core banking system was a deliberate decision to simplify and modernise the bank’s IT systems from the core out.

He says ANZ's core banking system is now one of the most modern in New Zealand and “provides a strong platform to develop new products in this digital era”.

“Transforming the core banking platform from highly customised, 20-plus year old green screen technology to the latest vendor base product has provided ANZ with the ability to release greatly enhanced functionality and data to downstream technology and business partners,” he explains.

“Coupled with a modern integration technology, a modernised core banking platform enables legacy customer, loans and deposits applications to fully participate in a digitally enabled customer centric banking experience.”

The ICT department also worked with the Customer Insights team to replace the data analytics platform for both hardware and software. The upgrade under the Accelerating Insights (RDM Upgrade Project) enabled faster processing and more efficient management of customer insight models. The project also ensured data encryption, and security was paramount and as strong as possible, says Bunyan.

The bank continues its systems simplification programme for customers, providing digital solutions to allow customers to do their banking whenever and wherever they want.

Today, ANZ’s GoMoney is New Zealand’s leading banking app. In December, the bank released goMoney Wallet for customers with a compatible NFC-enabled Android phone. Bunyan says goMoney Wallet has paved the way for mobile payments in New Zealand with ANZ being the first bank to release mobile payment functionality within its core banking system.

The development and delivery experience was extremely positive, says Bunyan.

Bunyan says ANZ regularly uses the Agile scrum development technology. In the case of goMoney Wallet, he says, software development staff from ANZ technology staff worked other business stakeholders. It was done in true partnership fashion, he states. “Deliverables were tightly managed throughout the project.”

Bunyan says ICT budget and project numbers for the year will remain steady. The emphasis is on absorbing costs, implementing new services within the current spend, says Bunyan. There is also the focus on removing discretionary costs.

ICT staff numbers are projected to rise by up to 6 per cent, with new team members focusing on the digital work area, says Bunyan.