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News

• Westpac to replace core banking system

  Westpac Banking Corp has followed rivals and will replace its core banking system with an upgraded version of St George Bank's "Hogan" platform to merge transactions and deposit operations across both banks.
  The upgrade, revealed during an analyst briefing on the progress of a transformation project to merge both banks, paves the way for Westpac and St George to cut operating costs by sending their merged application development and support work to cheaper destinations such as India.

• Westpac to move offshore

  The chief executive of Westpac Banking Corporation, Gail Kelly, has reopened the door to the prospect of Australia's second-largest retail institution sending a lot of technology work overseas. She says the bank would not otherwise be able to find suitable domestic labour.
  "With the very significant program of work that we have on our agenda over the next few years with regard to technology, we couldn't possibly source all the skill we need right here," she said at Westpac's full-year results briefing on November 4.

• What is next in mobile banking

  The National Australia Bank has confirmed a spike in customers using its retail banking services from internet-enabled mobile phones is likely to lead to it replacing security pass codes - now sent by SMS - with biometric voice prints within a year because of growing security concerns.
  NAB's head of direct channels, Tim Cullen, said the institution was trialling the extension of the voice-printing technology to become an option for most of its internet banking customers as it looked for ways to boost transaction security and improve customer experience.

• ANZ to revamp IT operations

  Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has foreshadowed a sweeping restructure of its A$768 million a year technology operations and management, cherry-picking a senior executive from the beleaguered Bank of Ireland to become its new chief information officer.
  ANZ chief executive Mike Smith said yesterday that the retail institution had hired career technologist Anne Weatherston to head a new technology division within the bank, a move that means responsibility for key systems will be transferred out of its existing operations and shared services group.

• Commonwealth Bank loses key tech exec

  The most senior technology executive at Commonwealth Bank-owned Bankwest, chief information officer Tony Clasquin, has resigned and will leave at the end of the year.
  The bank will lose an experienced technology leader who has been in a key role as it seeks to achieve $340 million of operational savings following CBA's $2.1 billion acquisition of Bankwest from HBOS late last year.

• National Australia Bank poaches rival net bank chief

  The National Australia Bank has poached the head of internet banking from rival Australia and New Zealand Banking Group to head a new direct banking and marketing division almost four months after 10 senior technology staff were jettisoned in a sweeping operational restructure.
  Former Fairfax Digital executive Sam Plowman will take up the role of executive general manager at NAB's Star Direct & Marketing arm, which includes the retail institution's internet-only play, UBank.

• ANZ group on platform to conquer

  As the executive responsible for the technology that will underpin Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's ambitious plans to expand to super-regional status, Brian Clark says he has the best technology job in the bank, and one of the world's most challenging enterprise technology jobs.
  The stakes in completing the tasks properly are certainly high. Chief executive Mike Smith has said the Asia-Pacific arm aims to contribute 20 percent of the bank's profits in five years, which would equate to $1.5 billion.

• Power of sharing

  As the financial world went into shock on the infamous Lehman Brothers Monday of September 15, 2008, finance chiefs across North America and Europe struck a line through billions of dollars' worth of technology spending.
  Major vendors, including SAP, Intel and Microsoft, felt the squeeze almost instantly, and warned investors to expect huge declines in revenue in coming months.

• ASB keeps jobs at home

  ASB has stated it will not be joining the movement to offshore any of its banking operations or roles, including its call centres.

• BNZ exec appointed CIO of National Australia Bank

  The National Australia Bank has replaced its chief information officer Michelle Tredenick with Bank of New Zealand general manager of banking delivery services Adam Bennet following an executive restructure.
  Bennet previously served with recently appointed NAB chief executive Cameron Clyne in New Zealand.

• ‘Think like a CFO’

  How does your CFO view ICT? What is the best way to get their attention? Richard Paik regularly talks to CFOs across industries as director of finance, Microsoft New Zealand. He shares his insights on CIO-CFO relationships.
  Be key partners: CFOs are feeling a lot of pressure in today’s economy. As the market retracts and companies fight for a seemingly smaller pie, we’re asked to help grow the business, improve productivity and drive compliance, all with fewer resources. CIOs are a key partner in enabling us to be successful.

• Banks to spend on technologies

  Despite tight budgets, banks will still spend on technologies that allow them to blunt the adverse effects of the crisis, build business despite the slowdown, and operate efficiently in a crisis environment.
  This is according to independent research and advisory firm Financial Insights, an IDC company, that has today released its report, 'Asia/Pacific Banking in 2009: Opportunities amid a Crisis'.

• 2009 is about survival

  While 2007 and the early months of 2008 saw banks focus mainly on growing market share, 2009 will instead see financial houses in the Asia Pacific channel their IT resources into surviving the current economic crisis, according to a report by research firm Financial Insights.
  Noting that the Asia Pacific will continue to be an important region for banks, due to its large domestic markets, recent wealth accumulation, relatively stringent economic and corporate regulations and pockets of under-served banking segments, the report stated that banks in the region will be devising counter-cyclical technology initiatives to cope with the downturn. Such initiatives include portfolio analytics, asset-liability management and credit collections and recovery.

• ANZ reveals tech tactics

  Australia and New Zealand Banking Group chairman Charles Goode

• It's all systems go at merged banks

  Offering a first glimpse at its future computing plans, Westpac
  Banking Corp said yesterday it would pump $338 million into