An outsourcing move aimed at furthering ANZ’s
‘super-regional’ business strategy has seen the bank sign a A$500
million deal with telecommunications provider SingTel. But a
domestic backlash against offshoring jobs could hamper other
Australian banks’ technology plans. Dan Jones reports

ANZ has signed an A$500 million ($396
million) contract with telecommunications firm SingTel, under which
the Singaporean firm will provide the bank – Australia’s third
largest by retail deposits – with telecommunications and managed
network services in Australia as well as 30 countries across the
Asia-Pacific region.

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The move is the latest phase in ANZ’s ‘Super
Regional’ strategy, under which it intends to achieve 20 percent of
group net profit from Asia by 2012. The ambitious targets also
envisage the bank increasing customer numbers from around 150,000
to 1.5 million and branches from 30 to 200 (see RBI 595). But the
announcement also has unfortunate overtones for the bank, coming at
a time when the outsourcing projects of Australian financial
institutions are under deep scrutiny back home.

SingTel, which has existing contracts with
other institutions such as Citibank Asia, will provide ANZ with a
single platform for the delivery of voice, data and managed
services to over 34,000 ANZ staff, a network infrastructure
transformation that will include the deployment of over 20,000 IP
telephones and 40 video conferencing units.

ANZ envisages that such advances will
ultimately give the bank the option of allowing customers in
isolated locations to communicate remotely with banking
specialists.

For now, the banking industry in general
remains cautious over the use of such technology, given the
regulatory implications of such moves, and the video conferencing
will consequently serve to “allow greater collaboration for our
staff” as a primary function, according to David Cartwright, ANZ
group managing director for operations, technology and shared
services.

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“SingTel is at the forefront of driving
innovation,” added Bill Chang, executive vice president of business
at SingTel. “We will leverage our innovation capabilities and
assets to support ANZ in developing additional channels and
products for ANZ customers across Asia and Australia.”

The managed network services, provided by both
SingTel and its subsidiary Optus Networks, will also include
overseeing the roll out of a new data network to over 850 ANZ
retail branches in Australia.

The provision of similar services to ANZ’s
technology and operations centre in Bangalore, India, will also be
encompassed by the agreement, but it is such centres that have
roused the ire of some Australian media outlets in recent weeks. A
focus on job losses had led both Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of
Australia, the two banks currently digesting their respective
acquisitions of St George Bank and former HBOS unit BankWest, to
commit to suspending future offshoring plans.

A report in The Australian newspaper suggested
that Westpac was looking offshore for a cost-effective method of
integrating the IT operations of St George. The bank did not
comment on the report, but the scenario is reminiscent of a May
2008 report, when Westpac was forced to deny that it would
outsource around 3,000 back-office jobs to India by 2011.

In its latest merger update, Westpac said it
expected to commence the integration of St George systems later
this year, with the two banks’ IT infrastructure, data centres and
customer information set to be integrated from fourth quarter of
2009 onwards.

IT
Contracts

RBI
Fintech DealWatch tracks recent major technology contract
wins with a focus on the retail financial services industry as well
as fintech mergers and acquisitions and innovative new product
launches

Country

Participants

Type/value

Details

Date

Global

NIBC, Datanomic

AML contract win

Dutch bank NIBC is to install Datanomic
anti-money laundering software across its merchant and retail
banking operations, including its recently launched online bank
NIBC Direct.

26 May

Global

MoneyGram, Solutran

Industry sale

US payment services provider MoneyGram is to
sell its payment processing business to treasury management firm
Solutran, the company has said, as it shifts its focus towards its
money transfer and bill payment businesses.

22 May

UK

First Data, Co-operative Financial
Services

Card issuing and processing contract

Payment processing firm First Data and the
UK’s Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) have agreed an
eight-year extension to their existing card issuing and processing
agreement. CFS’s credit and debit cards will be migrated to First
Data’s issuing solution FirstVision as part of the deal.

20 May

UK

First Data, Vanquis Bank

Payment processing contract

First Data and UK issuer Vanquis Bank have
signed a new seven-year card processing agreement, a contract
renewal which will also see the bank’s card portfolios migrated to
FirstVision.

20 May

United Arab Emirates

Dubai First, du

Contactless mobile trial

Consumer finance lender Dubai first and
telecoms firm du are to collaborate on the United Arab Emirates’
first contactless mobile payments launch over the next six
months

20 May

Global

European Payments Council, GlobalPlatform

Memorandum of Understanding

The European Payments Council and
GlobalPlatform, the international specification body for smart card
infrastructure, have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at
co-ordinating contactless mobile payment initiatives.

19 May

Country

Participants

Type/value

Details

Date

Oman

Nets, Gemalto Middle East, government of
Oman

E-payments contract

E-payments provider Nets and digital security
firm Gemalto Middle East will provide Oman with a national
electronic purse system after winning a contract with the
government of Oman. BankMuscat will act as card issuer for the
system, which will be rolled out across all Omani banks in
2010.

19 May

India

Bank of India, Hewlett Packard

Core banking sign-off

Bank of India has announced that it has
successfully implemented a new core banking system at all of its
3,023 branches with the help of Hewlett Packard. The bank has a
long-standing outsourcing agreement with the US tech firm.

19 May

New Zealand

Kiwibank, Postilion

Payments contract sign-off

Kiwibank has announced that payments provider
Postilion has successfully migrated its in-house transaction
processing system to the Postilion platform. The new open systems
platform joins a range of existing Postilion products in use at
Kiwibank.

18 May

Global

TSYS, Experian

Systems integration

Information services firm Experian and
fintech provider TSYS have announced the integration of Experian’s
customer strategy management system and TSYS’ processing platform.
The move will allow card issuers to combine current and historical
data from account management systems with flexible segmentation and
scorecards.

14 May

US

MasterCard, Obopay, Bancorp Bank

M-payments platform launch

MasterCard has launched a P2P m-payment
platform for US issuers after developing the system in
collaboration with Obopay. The Mobile MoneySend platform is
initially only available to Bancorp Bank prepaid cardholders

14 May

France

Banque Populaire, Norkom

Security contract

Banque Populaire has announced that it has
rolled out Irish firm Norkom’s anti-money laundering system across
its 17 French retail operations, enabling it to improve risk
management as well as comply with EU regulations.

13 May

Europe

Deutsche Bank, Logica

Sepa contract

Deutsche Bank and IT firm Logica have
launched a new direct debit offering that will provide financial
institution clients with “plug and play” Sepa functionality ahead
of the November 2010 deadline imposed by the EU. The Sepa Connector
will also support credit transfers.

12 May

Azerbaijan

Temenos, Amrahbank

Core banking contract

Azerbaijan’s Amrahbank has selected the T24
Model Bank core banking system from Temenos as part of a project to
improve customer service and efficiency as well as boosting growth
plans. The system will allow Amrahbank to launch an online banking
service.

11 May

UAE

RAKBANK, Postilion

ATM contract

United Arab Emirates bank RAKBANK has chosen
payments provider Postilion to help the bank deploy ATM services
faster and more efficiently across the region. The system will
provide RAKBANK with real-time monitoring of transactions and help
it react quickly to compliance regulations.

11 May

Global

Microsoft, Agree Technology, Xiamen
International Bank

Branch solution launch

Microsoft and Chinese banking solution
provider Agree Technology have launched SuperTeller, a branch
solution designed to give staff faster and easier access to
customer information. China’s Xiamen International Bank has become
the first institution to adopt the new technology.

11 May

Mexico

SunGard, Mexican banks

Risk management contract

Ten Mexican banks – Banco ve por Mas, Invex
Servicios Corporativos, Banregio Grupo Financiero, Banco Monex, DE
CV Invex Grupo Financiero, Institución de Banca Múltiple, Monex
Grupo Financiero, Banco Autofin Mexico, Banco Monex and Banco
Regional de Monterrey – have signed up to SunGard’s Ambit
operational risk management technology in order to meet the
country’s new regulatory requirements.

7 May

US

Fannie Mae, Fiserv

Data transmission contract

Solutions provider Fiserv is working with US
government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae to provide information
aimed at flagging up early-stage borrower delinquency among
mortgage customers.

6 May

Global

Temenos, Cognizant

Strategic partnership

Temenos has announced the signing of a
strategic partnership with US IT and outsourcing firm Cognizant
aimed at enhancing its Temenos T24 core banking system. The
agreement will see the two firms open a global Centre of Excellence
and broaden Temenos’ capacity to market and product implementation
skills.

6 May

Spain

HVB, Financial Architects

Compliance contract

UniCredit subsidiary HVB will implement the
Financial Studio Compliance solution from Financial Architects at
its Spanish unit as part of a push to meet Spanish regulatory
requirements.

6 May

Asia-Pacific

ANZ, Singapore Telecommunications

Managed network contract

ANZ has signed a A$500 million ($392 million)
agreement with communications provider Singapore Telecommunications
to transform its network infrastructure across Australia and 30
other
Asia-Pacific nations (see left)

4 May

US

Fifth Third, MasterCard

Card issuing contract extension

MasterCard will continue to issue credit and
debit cards for customers of US bank Fifth Third after the two
organisations extended an existing deal via a multi-year
contract.

30 April

Malawi

National Bank of Malawi, Temenos

Core banking contract

The National Bank of Malawi will implement
the T24 core banking system after it awarded Temenos a contract to
replace its existing system.

29 April

Brazil

ABC Brazil Bank, IBM

Data centre contract

ABC Brazil Bank has signed a contract with
IBM to create an energy efficient data centre for the bank. IBM
will provide 36 months of maintenance as well as servers and
virtualisation technology.

29 April

Global

UniCredit, Teradata

CFO data contract

Italy’s UniCredit has chosen technology from
Teradata as the platform for its new CFO data warehouse. The
technology will improve transparency and reduce costs at the
bank.

29 April

Asia-Pacific

China Construction Bank, Fiserv

Market risk management contract

China Construction Bank has introduced
Fiserv’s KRM market risk management technology across its Hong Kong
and Macau operations. The system will allow CCB to assess
regulatory capital requirements and provide other analytical
support.

28 April

China

China Minsheng Bank, Yucheng Technologies

Call centre contract

Yucheng Technologies is to build a call
centre for China Minsheng Bank which will allow operators to access
customer information across multiple accounts as well as lowering
the bank’s risk exposure by improving data analysis and fraud
prevention systems.

28 April

Source: RBI