Westpac plots next technology roadmap

Westpac is finalising its next multi-year technology plan to support the bank’s strategy, having completed an earlier five-year infrastructure overhaul.

Speaking at Westpac’s full-year financial results this morning, CEO Peter King said the bank’s top three priorities are to “fix, simplify and perform”.

Continuing to reduce IT complexity falls under the bank’s number one priority: “fix”. 

“On fixing technology we know we are too complex. We’ve made progress on infrastructure over recent years," King said.

"We are now finalising our multi-year domain roadmaps."

In 2020 the bank completed a five-year IT infrastructure refresh, which has driven a 56 percent reduction in system outages this year, and a “nearly 90 percent reduction” over the past five years. 

“As part of this, the move to Microsoft 365 also allowed us to have 22,000 people working from home," King said.

According to the bank’s annual report, in 2020 Westpac developed “a detailed technology roadmap for the next phase of [its] transformation”. 

“That roadmap extends over multiple years, recognising that technology will change and we must be flexible. Significant work is still required but our development plan is clear," the report states. 

Westpac also completed the roll out of its Customer Service Hub and a new complaints management system, changing how the bank manages and resolves complaints. 

During the year the bank launched a new Westpac app, switched on Apple Pay and announced a new partnership with Afterpay. 

King said Westpac will continue to make investments in digital and data, “in particular in the consumer bank where we think we can get growth.”

“The new Westpac app is out and we've got significant investment actually coming in behind in terms of how we use the data,” he said. 

In a further effort to simplify its products and services Westpac has adopted a new line-of-business operating model, making one person responsible for the end-to-end product or service. 

“This improves decision making and accountability. It will also deliver better customer outcomes when one person has a clear line of sight and authority across every step,” King said.