FST chats to ANZ's head of Technology Experience

FST have spoken to Darren Baird, who has been given the task of making technology interactions for employees and customers over at ANZ a little bit easier. He has some terrific things to say about consumer preferences for simplicity and time-saving, as well as new technologies in the mobile space. Also some interesting comments on the involvement he and his team have in internal ANZ processes.

iPhone already making an impact

Those of you in Australia, particularly Melbourne and Sydney, will know the hype and subsequent sales of iPhones at Optus, Vodafone and Telstra stores over the weekend was hard to ignore. The launch of the 3G phone had much lead up coverage and consumer excitement, to the point where I personally witnessed the queue outside Melbourne's T-Life store in the Bourke St Mall. When I asked if I could just go in the store for a look (not at the iPhone) I was told to join the queue by the security people on the front door - I was waiting for some line like 'not in those shoes', as if it was some desirable night club ... not sure if Telstra will ever reach those heights.

And so the conversations and work begins on iphone ready internet banking (and other related functions).

ANZ have already launched something capable of working with the iPhone (has their java app failed then?) - this from their press release: "The initial functionality available to iPhone users visiting anz.com will include the tailor-made webpage and the choice of functions including Contact us, Locate us, and View Regular anz.com, as well as the ability to use the normal ANZ internet banking service. Over the coming weeks and months the purpose built iPhone banking service will be expanded to include View account balances, View your transaction history, Transfer between your accounts and Pay anyone." Baby steps for ANZ, but platform and compatability/rendering issues will be the first hurdle.

Commsec are allowing trades using the iPhone - "CommSec clients with iPhones can login anywhere, keep up to date with market news and prices, research companies and their performance, monitor their stock portfolio, and buy and sell shares." Interesting point made in the press release - "Rather than just accessing a website through the iPhone, the new purpose-built CommSec iPhone Edition enables customers to make the most of iPhone touch-screen functionality." This is an important distinction to make, to ensure we know they've taken the unique user experience of the iPhone into account, not just the fact that its a mobile. There's a demo you can watch here.

Jim at Netbanker gives us a good overview here on Kiwibanks iPhone offering, and also reveals the initial customer reaction of the BofA solution (and some background on BofA and Paypal apps). Again, an interesting point - "Their main complaint: it's not really a native app, just a front door to the bank's existing mobile site." This again emphasises the importance of the context and environment of the experience is as important as the task and functionality on offer - they must be aligned.

How important is this speed to market for the bank brands, to be associated with one of the most anticipated products in years... to finally get their IB platforms to meet REAL mobile phone standards??

ANZ and CommSec make some new toys

Have noticed the following: ANZ have launched a desktop widget, built by Yahoo, that enables you to access information on your desktop through a verisign secure connection. And CommSec have launched a nice site (might not be that new) that culminates in their new cash mgt account, and might I add, a hell of a lot of information - perhaps an overload there, although the traders out there probably soak it up like a sponge.

Oh and the Money Magazine awards are out - CommBank wins Bank of the Year! Wonder when the Customer Experience provider of the year will be an award...

Choice magazine talks about their views on recent merger activity

From The Age:

"It's clear that competition in the banking sector is not working as well as it should. In fact, competition is getting worse, not better.

Indeed, what's not clear is how a merger between one of the Big Four and the fifth biggest bank in Australia (with a particularly strong position in NSW and South Australia) will increase competition. Even if the cost of funds decreases as promised, there is no guarantee that any benefit will be passed on to customers. This is precisely why competition needs to have priority over other considerations."

...

"How many bank customers who were thrown into a rage because of poor service or high fees have had to back down on their threats to leave the miscreant bank because it is just all too hard? While 25% to 40% of bank customers express dissatisfaction with their current institution, only 3% actually switch accounts.

As things stand, customers are not able to drive competition by easily choosing a better deal, and that means incentives to offer better products are undermined. A competitive market will encourage banks to innovate — to offer attractive differences in price or service to draw new customers — but this can't work where it's too difficult for consumers to switch."

Article continues...

Banks fight for online supremacy

Good article from Fin Review on the banks improving their online presence, with CBA, ANZ, and NAB all focusing on better online customer experience.

New ANZ website arrives .... next Westpac?

Finally ANZ have refreshed their site. Have a look at the new design, usability, layout, etc. http://www.anz.com/. They've also released a new Small Business Community site - http://www.thesbhub.com.au/.

Be careful with your brand

Is this a NAB parody or praise?



Plus the new ANZ ad is interesting - channel marketing!!

ANZ begins mobile banking release in Australia

ANZ hit the press last week and over the weekend with the news its releasing a mobile banking platform this year. ANZ is understood to be trialling the service among a small group of customers and plans to roll out commercially in the next couple of weeks. ANZ has put up a website containing all the information about mobile banking, but spokeswoman Katherine Rellos refused to confirm the news or specify a time frame for rollout.

Read more at The Australian.

UPDATE - Feb launch coming says Australian IT. The impending launch, first reported in The Australian yesterday, will take place on February 11. The service will be free of charge until December 31 and any fees to be imposed would be reviewed thereafter. There are two parts to the service - TXT Banking uses SMS to deliver a customer's account balance(s) and the last five transactions, while M-Banking will enable the transfer of money between a customer's accounts or to other bank accounts in Australia.

OBR profiles branch hours

Charis at OBR brings us an interesting view on the recent wars between ANZ and CBA and their branches. Opening hours of branches and call centres are hot topics, given the proliferation of 24/7 services such as supermarkets, petrol stations etc.

CommBank & ANZ battle it out for convenience

From The Australian:

ANZ is understood to have agreed last week to withdraw its claim, and will revert to its less controversial assertion that it offers ``more convenient banking''.

The case was sparked by a letter from law firm Gilbert + Tobin, on behalf of CBA, which said its client had a clear advantage over ANZ in terms of branch numbers, automatic teller machines and points of presence around the country. Gilbert + Tobin threatened legal action unless ANZ dropped its advertising.

ANZ was initially defiant, believing convenience could mean a number of things, including shorter queueing times. It also has a call centre open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. CBA, though, has countered that it, too, has an always-open call centre operation.

A bank insider said yesterday that CBA had used the moniker ``most convenient bank'' for a number of years, well before ANZ had adopted it.

ANZ personal division boss Brian Hartzer told The Australian last year that the bank, starting in 2002, had heavily researched a strategy that would differentiate it in the market, ultimately choosing convenience and simplicity. He said ANZ had since invested money into reducing queue times, 24-hour call centres and convenience issues. ``If you stop someone in the street and ask them which bank provides more convenient banking, it's not certain they will say ANZ,'' Mr Hartzer said. ``But give us another year and they will.''

ANZ release In Business online magazine

ANZ have launched the latest episode of their online magazine In Business, a news and current topic source for small and medium businesses. Let me throw stones in the glass house that is our industry, by saying I am becoming confused by ANZ's online approach - being a person with a visual and creative background, I cant work out how ANZ create consistency in their online experiences - for me there is so much that is not the same across all their digital executions - decentralised marketing, agency issues whatever it is, the brand is starting to look a little ragged. Of course, I'm at NAB, and I can say that, because I think we've got this consistency right. Comments and retorts very welcome - I'm interested to know more...

Net Promoter Scores 2006 - guess the one bank in the black

This from MBS, the Net Promoter Scores for Australia 2006 across a variety of industries - auto, banks, health insurance, tourism, mobiles, computers, etc. Completed by Mark Ritson, a friend of TheBankChannel. Excellent and revealing reading! Read his media release here.

Bendigo, like their customer satisfaction, dominates with the only positive net promoter score at +7 in the banking industry. HSBC was next, which was interesting, at -8. ANZ -24, St G -30, Westpac -39, NAB -42, CommBank -54 .... heck.

NZ Banks Continue To Make Gains In Satisfaction, Bendigo wins in Aus again

Click on the image to see a bigger version.

New Zealand Bank Performance

Roy Morgan reports NZ banks are continuing to improve as a group, with the leader minor bank TSB with a staggering 93.2% of customers satisfied with their service.

Roy Morgan New Zealand found that in the 12 months to July 2007, satisfaction reported by customers of the five major banks improved 3.8 percentage points to 75.6%.

The biggest improver was Westpac, with those who have any relationship with Westpac increasing their satisfaction level by 6.1 percentage points to 71.1%. While this represents a steady and significant improvement over the past 12 months, Westpac still trails its competitors.

Another interesting point is the entrance of government/post office owned Kiwi Bank that started and remained at number 2, but looks to be coming back to the advancing pack.

Australian Bank Performance

Meanwhile Bendigo has again won the latest customer satisfaction round here in Oz. The Roy Morgan Research Consumer Banking Customer Satisfaction Report (August 2007) ranked Bendigo Bank as the highest of any Australian bank in terms of customer satisfaction. Bendigo Bank received a 90.6 percent customer satisfaction rating.

ANZ received a 75.6 percent rating; Commonwealth Bank a 68.1 percent rating; NAB a 68.9 percent rating and Westpac a 72 percent rating. St George and Suncorp both received a 79.3 percent rating. Adelaide Bank received a rating of 82.6 percent higher than Bank of Queensland and BankWest which received ratings of 82.1 percent and 72.4 percent respectively.

7 day trading ... in a bank!

We dont talk much about branch banking here on TheBankChannel, a very deliberately direct banking blog, but this does rate for mine.

7 day trading is pretty much the norm in retail, some health services, and other areas.. but surely not in banking. The unions must be feeling their grips either slipping on control of their workers rights, or tightening on the awards their workers receive. Given the IR situation in Australia at the moment, and even the soft union stance the opposition Labour party is exhibiting, I think its the former.

CommBank and ANZ have both announced a move to open their banks on Sundays in a pilot in certain stores in certain states:

"ANZ's initiative, which will see seven-day banking in every capital city and selected regional areas by 2010, is part of a strategy aimed at making the bank more accessible to its customers and stressing its point of difference over its rivals.

ANZ Banking Group Ltd has two full-service branches open for Sunday trade - one in Melbourne and one in Brisbane.

It also also has a number of other branches nationally, which open seven days a week for account and loan enquiries.

But Commonwealth's roll-out is much bigger with six full-service branches to open at shopping centres in Victoria, three in Queensland, and one in South Australia next month.

"For many of our customers Sunday is one of their busiest days, whether they are merchants or just members of the general public," the bank's group executive for retail banking services Ross McEwan said."

In July, foreign-owned regional lender BankWest announced plans to open 160 new branches on the east coast, slash bank fees, and extend branch opening hours across the weekend."

Another example of an elephant of an industry moving to meet customers needs, and the last union, aside from possibly the biggest union in the country, the Community & Public Sector Union, moving with the times. Tell me a family that wouldnt want its bread winner to earn double time on a Sunday and take Monday and Tuesday off to drive the kids to school.

Customers will say - "if the supermarket, petrol station, book store, my favourite clothing chain, and every cafe in town is open on Sundays, sometimes 24/7, then why shouldnt a bank - why do they shut at 4 on weekdays when I cant get there during work hours" ... we may know the answers why, but customers dont, and dont care. "Whats the difference in staff and overhead costs?" And worse still is when some call centres reflect these hours.

The days of all day all night support is upon us, after probably 10 years of avoiding it. Internet banking and the emergence of bank anywhere by mobile will mean a call centre agent and hopefully more branch locations will be available when customers are active as shoppers and bankers.

ANZ reveals retail strategy

ANZ have released their retail strategy to the press and through their website. On the ANZ site you can gain access to a range of pdf presentations outlining their strategy and performance. In case you cant see them here they are:

Personal Division Overview - Brian Hartzer (PDF, 1.39mb)
Branch Network - Louis Hawke (PDF, 1.07mb)
Regional, Rural & Small Business - Rob Goudswaard (PDF, 540kb)
Investment & Insurance - Geoff Cohen (PDF, 532kb)
Mortgages - Michael Rowland (PDF, 596kb)
Banking Products - John Harries (PDF, 524kb)
Consumer Finance - Jenny Fagg (PDF, 720kb)
Esanda - David Hisco (PDF, 200kb)

Archived webcast

New ANZ commitments to 'convenience'

ANZ Group Ltd will implement a range of new initiatives in personal banking designed to ensure it's Australia's "most convenient bank".

ANZ's seven-point plan to 2010, unveiled at its investor briefing on Wednesday, includes commitments such as adding more ATMs, offering seven day per week full service banking and adding 50 new Local Link agencies in rural towns.

The bank will make available, too, a small business banker in every branch and premium personal bankers across metropolitan Australia, plus 24 hour, seven day a week internet support and a new online internet banking guarantee.

ANZ managing director personal Brian Hartzer said banking competition was getting tougher and it was time to "raise the bar"."

ANZ has a strong financial base and a very strong and growing retail deposit franchise," Mr Hartzer said.

"We are now Australia's most convenient bank and we are committing to build on this over the next three years by making the investments needed to extend our point of difference with a focus on the things customers tell us matter to them - convenience, simplicity and responsibility."

ANZ launches e-government trial for business customers

Again, from Finextra:

"ANZ has inked an agreement with the Australian government to trial a system that will enable its business customers to access government services via the Internet using a chip card.

The 'proof of concept' deal between ANZ and the Australian Government Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources (DITR) will see bank customers accessing federal, state and local government services online using a smart card featuring IdenTrust's digital certificate technology.

The bank says that businesses can use the online system to apply for government grants, concessions, licences and permits, as well as for registering company names and signing and submitting tenders and contracts.

Trials are scheduled to begin later in the year and ANZ says it will offer the service to more business banking customers if the pilot is successful.

Chris Cooper, MD, working capital, ANZ, says: "With this agreement, clients will, over time, be able to use ANZ chip cards to access select government services simply and securely."

ANZ CIO, Peter Dalton talks

FST Media has interviewed Peter Dalton on all things IT - offshoring, compliance, security, best practice, technology trends, mobile banking and the role of the CIO. Very interesting reading.

Extract from final para: "Technology has a tremendous role to play in the future of ANZ and banking in general and I would like my legacy to be that technology has enhanced people’s experience with banking and finance, making banking more convenient and more simple. At ANZ, the people in the technology department love using great technology, but more importantly they use it to create a better experience for our customers, for our staff and for the businesses who use it. Now we want to continue that journey so that the experience of the technology you have at ANZ is and remains outstanding." This focus on customers is not new, but excellent practice.

Speaking of FST, they have an interesting conference coming up - The Sydney Technology & Innovation for Banking and Financial Services Conference, 23 & 24 October. Like the interview above, this covers a range of challenges faced by technology and direct channels right now.

ANZ's ATM still running?

ANZ are still linking to this site, the ATM arcade game from their home page - a pretty nice brand exercise although a little difficult to use, and looks a little mashed together. ANZ are producing more microsites and landing pages than perhaps they need (this one is a little cryptic, and this one, and this one - they're all quite different arent they), but still push the boundaries - I think nab and others are catching up.

New ANZ chief signals clearer Asia strategy

Although ANZ has been leading the charge of Aus banks into Asia, capturing their new head Michael Smith, an HSBC figurehead, as well as their head of Asia Alex Thursby from Standard Chartered, heralds an era where Australian company CEOs and their banks must be true citizens of the region, rather than atop a city-based-with-oriental-outposts organisation.

Smith will need to leverage his Asian experience to ensure ANZ's foray into China and other markets remains a success. Fickle, local business methods (just like any new region) means ANZ and other businesses continuing to enter the markets will need local knowledge mixed with the brands and skills of the west.

I'm a true believer that Australia's economical future lies in Asia (always have been), a truly breath taking market full of opportunity and activity. Our aims as banking professionals should include some Asia activity, as it will be the main growth area where we can offer our skills. Its a continent of rich diversity in banking industry development - the volumes of JP, CN, SK banking, the institutional banking centres in HK and Singapore, the developing economies of Vietnam, Phillipines, Malaysia and Indonesia all signal a massive market. I'm excited by it and hope to be part of it. There'll be way more on doing business in Asia, my personal passion, on this blog.

ANZ Equity Explorer

ANZ have released yet another microsite (think mortgages, podcasts, etc) for their equity loan product called ANZ Equity Explorer, to go along with a tv campaign (soft at best). A nice idea has perhaps been lost here, and another confusing url and microsite created to add to the visual business of the ANZ portfolio of online and integrated offerings. I feel the original intent of the brand (done by Futurebrand) is beginning to get muddied by marketing comms efforts.

Charis from Better Banking Blog shares her experience, a similar one to mine - saw the ad, searched for the site, couldnt find it, etc. Have a read on this excellent blog.