Sibos 2021: solving for complexity

Published September 23, 2021

A clear customer proposition is critical for businesses struggling with the increased complexity of a more-digital, post-COVID world, according to Lisa Vasic, Managing Director, Transaction Banking at ANZ Institutional.

Speaking on podcast ahead of the SIBOS 2021 financial services conference, Vasic said ANZ had customers looking to simplify, and transition toward the digital tools which have become popularised throughout the pandemic - but were finding their existing systems aren’t always compatible.

“The key thing is… understanding their customer proposition,” she said. “And what are their objectives, and what are their challenges, in terms of managing the transition [into a digital, post-pandemic business],” she said.  

“We've seen a lot of customers go, yes, I would like to turn BCP into BAU, but for some of them they can't because they need other… changes”

Part of the solution is clarity on how the business operates and wants to work with its banking partner. ANZ has been “sitting down with our customers” to solve for these issues, Vasic said, and “making sure we can reconcile that to what their objectives are”.

Vasic said a move in New Zealand to phase out cheques at an institutional level was an example of critical digital progress being made in areas which aren’t always simple.

“That just shows you that the transition can happen,” she said. “But it needs to happen in a very considered way and an open way. This is what we're trying to do.”

Vasic made the comments on podcast hosted ahead of the Sibos 2021 financial services conference. Also on the call were Nigel Dobson, Banking Services Lead at ANZ and Leigh Mahoney, Head of Wholesale Digital at ANZ Institutional. You can listen to part two of the edited conversation below.

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Vasic said that even tech with proven benefits, such a real-time payment networks and APIs (big in Asia and increasing in popularity in ANZ’s home markets), could prove problematic for some business.

“[RTPs] aren't the bee's knees for everybody,” she said. “Some of our customers say ‘great, but actually, if all my incoming receipts are via batch, and I'm paying by real time, I've got this mismatch’,” she said.

 “It’s [about] recognising and making sure we can process-map all of those things with our customers, whether it's a Treasury function, or whether it's product architecture that sits with the customer proposition.”

Mahoney said ANZ had spent time “making it easier” for business to work with the bank on solutions such as these. 

The success of the bank’s financial infrastructure platform, for instance, means later in 2021 ANZ will process “just as many transactions for other banks customers as we will for our own”, he said.

Dobson said ANZ’s “wholesales out” its payments platforms to other institutions, meaning it acts almost “like a vendor”.

“You're selling a service proposition to your customer,” he said. “And I love to say that we can behave like a vendor, but we have all the knowledge and experience of a bank.”

“It's a pretty good combination.”

Vasic said the bank’s offering in that area are “core to who ANZ is” and “integral to our DNA”.

“It was a natural pathway to extend those services that we’d be manufacturing to our customers, she said. “We're really pleased with the market leader now.”

Vasic said the key for ANZ was ensuring its success in correspondent banking was successfully transferred into other areas where the bank can help customers.

“[And] being clear we want to enable and empower our customers to make sure that they can provide whole propositions to their customers, of which banking services is a component,” she said.

Listen to the podcast above to find put more.

Click HERE to listen to part one of the conversation.