Westpac NZ hires new CIO

Westpac has appointed a new chief information officer for its New Zealand operation, hiring South African technology executive Dawie Olivier to the role.

Olivier will replace Jason Millett - who has been acting as CIO since March last year - when he begins his position in April.

Millett was appointed into the interim CIO role following a restructure which resulted in the CIO position being elevated to the executive team.

Olivier will relocate from South Africa, leaving his former a role as executive head of group technology build at Standard Bank Group to take on the new position. He will report to Westpac NZ CEO David McLean.

Millett is understood to be relocating to Sydney to pursue opportunities within Westpac Australia.

In recent years Westpac NZ has worked to position itself as a digital leader, entering a strategic partnership with Samsung to assist with the bank’s digital innovation.

The partnership has so far resulted in a successful proof of concept of fingerprint scanning using Samsung’s secure Knox technology.