Published on the 28/11/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
The ANZ Bank has spent $150 million on new digital platforms to support customers and staff and plans to invest up to $100 million annually for another four years…
ANZ is rolling out new mobile banking apps, technology that turns smartphones into contactless point of sale devices and is planning to introduce voice biometrics to boost mobile payments security.
The bank has also introduced an iPad system, rolling out 1200 tablets to staff which provide access to eight different apps that allow them to do everything from collect customer information to provide clients with introductions to ANZ bankers based throughout Asia Pacific.
According to chief executive Phil Chronican mobile technology is “so mainstream we have to reengineer the business around it.”
While the Mobility in Business survey released recently by Citrix in association with Vanson Bourne, claimed that Australian enterprises lag international peers in terms of their adoption of mobile, the banks seems to be ahead of the curve. Chronican cited Google research from the US which found two out of five people would switch banks if they didn’t provide the services they expected – and mobile banking is now one of those expectations.
All the major, and many second tier banks, have mobile apps, and are increasingly integrating mobile into their back office.
The ANZ was the first major Australian bank to launch a mobile banking application – goMoney – back in 2010 and claims that of the 1.8 million people who have downloaded the app, 1 million are regular users. A refreshed version is slated for the first half of 2014 and the bank this week demonstrated a voice biometrics system that will allow people to securely transfer amounts of $1000 or more using the mobile phone app once their voice has been identified.
But according to Chronican it’s not just consumers who benefit from mobility. “One thing that has surprised us is how much our large institutional customers value mobility.” The bank has developed smartphone and tablet applications that provide large clients with access to their accounts from mobile devices – so far 18 percent of ANZ’s institutional customers or corporate divisions have taken up the technology.
Small business hasn’t been overlooked. Chronican said that 7500 organisations are regular users of the FastPay smartphone app which allows companies to take credit card payments on a smartphone. The bank this week demonstrated a portable point of sale device it says is being used by retailers including T2 and Nespresso, which allows small retailers to accept contactless payments.
A report released this week by HP and RFi noted that Australians’ enthusiasm for contactless payment is soaring. It claimed 57 percent of the population has a contactless payment card, and 40 percent now uses them, with contactless starting to nudge cash for small purchases.
