ANZ combines digital and retail divisions ahead of ANZ Plus launch

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) said it will be combining its digital division, including ANZx, an internal division that was established by the bank to focus on long-term tech investments, and its Australian retail business.

The move comes ahead of the launch of ANZ Plus, the bank’s first digital, customer-facing banking proposition that was built under the ANZx program. ANZ Plus is centred around helping customers build their savings and improve their spending habits.

“We recognised retail banking was changing fast and that we needed to use the world’s best digital technology to deliver a customer proposition centred around the financial wellbeing of our customers while also improving the speed and resilience of our operations,” ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliot said.

“At the time, we established our new Digital Division outside of our Australian retail business to ensure we weren’t being limited by existing structures and technology.  Our intention was to always bring this work together when it made sense and given our first customer proposition, ANZ Plus, is about to go live, that time is now.”

In combining the two business divisions, Elliot announced that Maile Carnegie will move from her current role as the digital banking group executive to the Australian retail group executive.

“Maile Carnegie is the right leader to take this business forward. She has brought a different perspective since joining our Executive Committee in 2016 and made a significant contribution in reshaping our digital offerings, particularly with ANZx,” he said.

“Maile’s recent banking experience, as well as her extensive career running consumer and digital businesses, means she has an exceptional skillset that will ultimately evolve our retail bank.”

The bank added its Australian commercial business will become its own standalone division to “better prepare it for future growth opportunities”. Outgoing Australian retail and commercial group executive Mark Hand will assist the bank in establishing this new commercial division before he leaves the company later this year.

In other banking news, Westpac has appointed Damien MacRae, currently Westpac pacific and specialist finance managing director, to head up its digital “banking-as-a-service” business.

“Fintech innovation is changing banking in important ways and Banking as a Service is part of our long-term strategy to support this trend and better respond to changing customer needs,” Westpac specialist businesses chief executive Jason Yetton said.

“Banking as a Service is a growth opportunity for the Group and a key priority this year is to increase our customer base and build out our product offering.”

Westpac announced it was investing in its digital banking platform during the bank’s 2019 financial results. Since then, the company has signed AfterPay and SocietyOne as initial partners for its banking-as-service business.

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