Bank of New Zealand (MIS100 2012)

“At BNZ, our business objectives focus tightly on the customer experience and how we can best use technology to meet their needs,” says CTO Roy Goldsmith. To this end, nationwide implementation of a new $200 million national network of 178 stores and 29 business centres is due to be completed this year.

BNZ also plans to launch a major transformation of the core banking system, as well as enhance current systems and processes.

“Managing the success, efficiency and cost of business is an on-going aspect of this work, and we’ll achieve this by working closely with key suppliers to ensure we have the right service at the right price — a key challenge in our relatively small market,” explains Goldsmith.

In 2011, BNZ became the first New Zealand bank to build, in-house and from the ground up, an internet banking capability across all three platforms — iPhone, Android and a purpose-built mobile banking website. Foundations were laid in 2011 to support BNZ staff using mobile technology to do their jobs. This year, that focus will continue, to ensure the challenges of security and integration are met. To date, customer benefits are proving to be significant and the opportunities for further integration and simplification of business process are still being explored, Goldsmith says.

“Investment in our people is crucial to the development of our systems, not just in terms of technology, but also in the areas of leadership, management and the fostering of opportunities for ICT staff to grow personally,” says Goldsmith. With this in mind, a Technology Trainee scheme has begun, aimed at developing entry-level capable people with a well-rounded understanding of IT.