EVOLUTION OF BANKING

COMPETITION 

LOYALTY 

COMPREHENSIVE-READY 

EMPOWERING PARTNER 

IMPACT 

INSIGHT 

EVOLUTION OF BANKING 

FINANCIAL SUCCESS 

TRUSTED SOURCE 

CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT 

CREDIT LIFECYCLE 

CONSUMER CHAMPION 

INNOVATION 

INCREASE LENDING 

RETENTION 

Digital Disruption 

BETTER FINANCIAL DECISIONS 

COMPLIANT 

& FINANCIAL SERVICES 

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 

PROVING VALUE 

PROFITABILITY 

INNOVATOR 

SEGMENT

INTRODUCTION AND CONTENTS 

This paper is an exploration of how Experian can provide relevant, meaningful support and 

service to the organisations which we serve as they face the current and evolving Australian 

financial services landscape. 

The industry has faced significant headwinds in 

recent years, as it has dealt with a challenging and 

changing economic environment, including the 

pressure of continuing low interest rates, the demands 

of capital adequacy rules, the rise of digital, and new 

challengers in the Australian market. Cost reduction 

and management, including efficient recognition of and 

delivery to customer needs has become increasingly a 

key focus to protect investor’s return on equity and to 

meet shareholder expectations. 

Alongside this, the Australian financial services 

industry is confronted with an increasingly complex 

privacy and credit regulatory landscape. The interaction 

of the different regulatory requirements do not neatly 

dovetail and synergising them adds to the rigours and 

cost of compliance. 

In addition, there are changes in customer behaviour 

and expectations as they adopt new technology at 

ever increasing rates. 

Despite the complexities, significant opportunity exists 

for those providers who can serve their customers 

well, utilising new technologies across all channels. 

However, the less agile and more cost constrained 

organisations are likely, as always, to find the next five 

years as challenging as the last. It’s anticipated the 

convergence of mobile technology, customer needs 

and wants, as well as new players through digital wallet 

and other digital device propositions being a catalyst 

for change across the financial services industry. This 

could be as far reaching as the changes in the past 

decade to the music industry.

01 

CUSTOMER 

02 

REGULATORy 

Framework 

03 

NEW ENTRANTS 

Overview 

Customers are the life blood of any organisation and must be positioned at the heart of product and 

proposition design to ensure success. Delivering excellent customer experiences will define banking 

and bring additional challenges as the customers increasingly demand greater responsiveness, and 

personalisation of products and services. 

Overview 

The regulators, post the global financial crisis continue to deliver financial services reform. 

Creating an environment where customer and investor focus are paramount and education of 

the marketplace are also major concerns. As a result of the introduction of Comprehensive Credit 

Reporting (CCR), financial organisations have the opportunity and need to evolve practices of data 

and risk management, customer interactions and technology. 

Overview 

This is a regulatory and political environment that wants to encourage competition and choice. New 

entrants will find the Australian banking and financial services environment tough to get started, 

but as innovative entrants have demonstrated, if you can fill a gap in the market, there is space and 

money to be made. Delivering internal reform and innovations such as those in the digital wallet 

space and peer to peer lending are challenging and building market share. 

Focus areas 

• Expectations of their bank 

• Their financial needs, wants and problems 

• Multi channel servicing 

• Customer experience 

Focus areas 

• Shaping a new environment with Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) 

• Expectations of regulated entities 

• Driving a paradigm shift for customers 

• Stronger process and evidence 

• Creating a customer culture 

Focus areas 

• Non-banks and digital wallet 

• Mobile payment: an opportunity and threat 

• New banks 

• Crowd funding and investment 

04 

TECHNOLOGY 

05 

BANKING 

EVOLUTION 

Overview 

Technology is inextricably linked with the very essence of a bank – from balances to transactions and 

customer information existing in a bank’s data centre. More than ever before, technology is shaping 

the next evolution in banking and financial services. Without state of the art management and 

innovative blue sky thinking, it could also constrain the pace of its progress. Online and high tech 

fraud is increasingly impacting the bottom line. 

Overview 

Developing differentiation within the industry and between brands will be a transformative journey. 

At its very heart are customers. Listening to what their needs, wants and problems are and providing 

help, solutions and guidance to navigate through life’s financial journey as well as the education that 

can enrich their conversations with their financial services providers. 

Focus areas 

• Delivering change / standardisation and APIs 

• Big Data 

• Security, fraud and biometrics 

• Future innovation impacting and protecting financial services 

Focus areas 

• The future 

• Retail – a bank for life 

• Wealth 

• SME business

01 CUSTOMER

EXPECTATIONS OF THEIR BANK 

Know me 

Keep records of 

who I am and 

any previous 

dialogue and 

requests 

Ability to grow, 

adapt and evolve 

around my life 

and needs and 

demonstrate 

they care 

Notice or 

understand 

when my 

circumstances 

change and 

respond 

Guide and 

protect me 

Always look 

for unusual 

transactions and 

activity and keep 

me secure 

Proactively 

support me with 

transparent, 

knowledgeable 

expert information 

and advice 

Greater expectations 

Make 

things 

easy 

Convenient and 

effortless access 

to products 

and services. 

Intuitive digital 

experiences 

provide 

great 

service 

Trust provider to 

be open, honest 

and transparent. 

Provide a 

genuine and 

courteous 

service 

Always be 

available, 

acknowledge 

and fully rectify 

mistakes 

Empower me 

to enter into 

conversations 

for my benefit 

reward me 

Feel that 

my custom 

and loyalty 

is genuinely 

recognised and 

rewarded 

With high technological and growing financial awareness initiatives, future customer expectations 

of their bank and banking services are changing. Consumers want their personal needs recognised; 

they are no longer happy to accept a ‘ one size fits all’ approach to financial services. Family and social 

structures are changing too. As the life stages of consumers become more diverse and less predictable, 

the importance of products and services that are targeted at individuals and niche segments are 

increasing. Products and services need to be as diverse as consumers themselves, and therefore, 

providers need to develop a holistic understanding of the customer and of their situation and to 

anticipate the changes to their needs over time. 

Minimum Expectations 

Reliable and easy to use technology across a range of devices 

Responsive call staff and convenient ATMs and branches 

Resolve issues quickly 

Want 

Know me 

Guide and protect me 

Make things easy 

Provide great service 

Easy to deal with 

Value for money 

Transparent and customer-centric 

Aspire 

Reward me 

Transparent fees 

Existing customers expect to be known. They expect to be able to interact in ways that suit them. New 

customers expect to be able to introduce themselves quickly and effortlessly. As both segments become 

better educated in managing their credit history, this will present both opportunity and challenge. Riskbased 

pricing will enter more financier-customer conversations, as customers expect to be recognised 

for the value of their relationship. 

The Evolution of Banking and Financial Services | 5

THEIR FINANCIAL NEEDS, WANTS and PROBLEMS 

Short Term 

Money transmission 

Overdraft and short term lending 

Credit card 

Self reliance versus 

welfare state 

There is a growing realisation across society 

that the governments cannot afford to provide 

for an ageing population and that consumers 

MUST make provision for themselves in 

savings, investments and self-managed 

superannuation. Customers will need 

significant help here. 

Banker not a Retailer 

Customers want and need a trusted, two-way 

relationship with their bank; they don’t expect 

a hard sell. They expect trusted guidance, 

where they are known and helped by their bank. 

Relevant communications highlight suitable 

products matched to needs. 

Insurance – home/car 

Life Insurance 

Medium Term 

Lending-mortgage/loans 

Cash savings 

Critical illness cover 

Illness and health protection 

Share dealing and investments 

Long Term 

Superannuation and retirement 

provisioning 

Reverse mortgages 

Estate Planning 

Educated on life’s financial 

journey 

The cost of providing financial advice within 

a heavily regulated environment will further 

constrain what banks can provide to customers. 

We see advice being maintained for high net 

worth and wealth segments but focussing on 

social media style education for mass market, 

driving self directed solution development 

across the industry. 

Rise of the self directed, self service customer 

Mobile revolution 

As everything goes mobile, customers will 

expect super easy, secure capability without 

all the hassle of passwords and onerous 

authentication. Digital wallet will be a key 

focus in banking and payments over the next 5 

years. Mobile changes the type of relationship 

the customer wants with their bank: higher 

frequency, shorter duration, personalised to 

them. 

Whilst regulation and technology change the delivery landscape, the core things customers need from their 

financial services provider do not change; they still want help in achieving their life goals and dreams whilst 

avoiding the nightmares. Access to information, including in video format online and across multiple different 

channels (and the integration of these), is beginning to create a more empowered, informed, ‘self-directed’ 

customer – not afraid to make financial decisions for themselves and who will look for reassurance on their 

actions through social and financial networks. 

How banks and other financial institutions go about providing financial advice and education over the coming 

years will be critical given the changing demographics of the Australian marketplace, because of the diverse 

needs of the population. 

The most significant changes will be in the group aged 65 years and over. Their numbers, and their proportion of 

the population, is projected to increase rapidly from 3.2 million at 30 June 2012 to between 5.7 million and 5.8 million 

in 2031, when this will make up almost one fifth of the Australian population 1 . Among other considerations such as 

health and housing services, growth in this age group has particular implications for retirement income planning 2 

and the provision of and access to financial services tailored to their aspirations and needs. 

6 | The Evolution of Banking and Financial Services 

1 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Dec 2013. 

2 Department of Treasury, 2010.

MULTI CHANNEL SERVICING 

Convenience 

• Preferred channel to 

service specific need, 

but will use all channels 

• Service is King 

• Always on / mobile 

connected 

Cost 

• Risk based pricing 

• Effort to get / best use 

of my energy 

• Not price driven 

• Constrained by existing 

debt 

• Value for money 

Choice 

• Give me options and 

I’ll decide 

• Don’t try to lock me 

into your brand, I want 

flexibility 

Customers want multi channel banking services. Face 

to face service is still an expectation in the Australian 

marketplace though the paradigm under this is this 

offered is shifting. For example, research from the 

Control 

• Comforted by being 

in control but needs to 

accept responsibility 

and move away from 

claim culture 

• Expects instantaneous 

gratification / fast 

response 

• Focussed on self 

Communication 

• Contact me on my 

terms, when relevant 

• Stop asking me for 

information you should 

know already / 

portability of my data 

• Networked with 

companies, institutions 

and each other through 

the internet and social 

media 

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) shows a decline in the past 

year in Australian Deposit Taking Institutions (ADIs) offering a branch level of 

service but an increase in other ‘face to face’ services. At the same time, customer 

uptake of online and mobile banking continues to grow as these digital channels 

offer products and services to their customers effectively 24x7. Customers expect 

to get cash at midnight, pay bills from the laptop in the lounge room and check 

balances when they are away from home. 

Australian bank customers also expect fairness, transparency, accountability and 

reliability from their financial institutions. These expectations including in relation 

to the fairness of fees, are being expressed in litigation. Credit providers are under 

real pressure. Significantly a series of bank fee class actions for repayment of fees, 

including honour and dishonour fees on bank accounts, as well as over limit and 

late payment fees on credit cards, promise to be the largest collective legal action 

ever in Australia. 

Branch 

Conveniently located branches 

Appointments readily available 

Open at convenient times 

Enough staff to avoid lengthy queues 

Telephony 

Knowledgeable staff available 24/7 

Offer call back at times that suit 

Free calls to Customer Services 

Call centres at the heart of Customer Service 

Digital 

Easy-to-use online and mobile 

Let me instantly move money 

Web / apps clear and easy to navigate 

Offer 24/7 access to accounts 


IT’S ALL ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE 

Customer experience and service design 

Every time a customer touches a company, the 

brand is either enhanced or diminished. As mobile 

technology redefines the frequency and method 

customers use to interact with banks and other 

financial institutions, delivering the right experience 

– every time – for the customer, is a critical element 

to every step of every process. 

It’s all about creating immersive experiences 

for customers which exceed their expectations 

and engage them emotionally – supporting their 

involvement and engagement in the experience 

through use of technology to capture, create, 

share and access their financial information, 

when and where they want, through the channel 

of their choice. 

Getting this right will provide bank brands the 

opportunity to grow brand and market share. 

The customer must come first – not money. 

When needs aren’t met, that’s not only not good for 

business, but could raise compliance challenges. 

CUSTOMER JOURNEY – CREDIT CARD APPLICATION 

Google search ‘credit card’ 

Ongoing relationship 

Payment of first bill 

Log onto digital account 

Monthly bill received 

Card used for purchases 

Comparison best options selection 

APR & Balance transfer information 

Type of card identified – low rate 

Comparison site selected 

Balance transfer complete 

Customer Management 

Card activation process 

Pre-application 

Name of Experience: 

Your BankCredit 

Card Application 

Description: 

Customer is looking 

for a new credit card 

& wants to apply 

quickly online 

Boarding 

Arrive on Your Bank offer landing page 

Pre application documents and information 

Application 

Proceed to online application 

Legal stuff 

More pre application information 

Enter personal information, name, DOB etc. 

Live help chat 

Job & bank details entered 

Balance transfer information / additional card 

Application decision 

More legal stuff (Card agreement) 

Postal receipt of card & information within 3 days 

Card number and credit limit confirmed 

Close application down 

Key 

A typical ‘assumptive’ design process 

How can this be a 

positive experience? 

Assume we know what 

customers need 

Build 

Launch 

User judges 

Fix! 

Make or break moment 

– what can we do to 

delight the customer? 

Where do we need 

data to help deliver 

the experience? 

Get ideas from 

customers 

Prototype 

ideas 

A ‘customer driven’ design process 

Test, refine 

Launch 

Reap rewards 

8 | The Evolution of Banking and Financial Services

The way forward 

A move to a customer centric view in all aspects of a financial 

institution’s dealings with its customers is critical to its 

maximising competitive advantage. 

Smart technology enables today’s customers to quickly locate the products 

and services that most suit them and to move from their bank or financial 

institution if it does not meet their expectations. Showing loyalty to a brand 

no longer has the same appeal as it did to earlier generations as much more 

is now expected than just great products and services. 

A new dynamic is demanded. Core to this new approach is the ability of the 

organisation to: 

• Bring together all the relevant internal data to form a total customer view. 

• Leverage external information to identify customers’ preferences and needs. 

• Use insights gained from combined internal and external data sources to 

anticipate customers’ requirements across all life stages. 

Using technology to positively identify and captivate customers will also grow 

customer engagement and empower them as they increasingly demand the 

opportunity to electronically manage their finances and interactions with their 

financial institutions. 

Customers also expect more. They increasingly look to use multiple channels 

to gather insights needed for informed purchases. Instead of using separate 

channels they expect transactions to be facilitated across multiple channels 

at once and at a time that suits them – and all of this with enhanced user 

experience. 

Capturing these customer experiences creates Big Data that an organisation 

can analyse to achieve better and more profitable delivery of products and 

services. 

Smart technology enables today’s customers to 

quickly locate the products and services that most 

suit them and to move from their bank or financial 

institution if it does not meet their expectations. 

This data is enhanced when external information is leveraged to create a full 

customer view. 

Decisioning tools that can effectively provide the necessary analysis are 

central to this process. 

Without the right customer insights, organisations risk falling behind in the 

competition. This is where Experian can help! 


02 regulatory 

framework 


Responding to the global financial crisis 

SHAPING A NEW ENVIRONMENT 

There have been understandably strong responses by regulators and politicians here 

and overseas following the global financial crisis. In Australia it added further impetus 

for regulatory reform in support of the stability and competitiveness of the Australian 

financial services market, a key industry contributor to the wider economy. Such 

initiatives are especially important in a context defined by the RBA report of November 

2014 of an Australian economy where growth will continue to be a bit below trend for a 

time, picking up gradually to be a bit above trend pace by 2016. 

The near-term weakness reflects a combination of three forces: a sharper decline in 

mining investment over the coming quarters than seen to date; the effects of the still 

high level of the exchange rate; and ongoing fiscal consolidation at state and federal 

levels. In contrast, resource exports are likely to make a further strong contribution 

to growth, with LNG exports expected to begin ramping up over coming quarters. 

At the same time, very low interest rates are working to support growth of household 

expenditure. In time, growth of household demand and the impetus to domestic demand 

provided by the exchange rate depreciation we have seen since early 2013 are expected 

to spur non-mining business investment. 

The Australian scenario will evolve against a background where the major advanced 

economies are in different stages of the business cycle. The recovery from recession is 

well established in the United States, but has a long way to go in the euro area. Japan has 

made some progress in reducing the extent of spare productive capacity, but inflation is 

still some way from the Bank of Japan’s target. Nevertheless, growth of Australia’s major 

trading partners has actually been around average for some time now and, as best as the 

RBA can tell, it is likely to remain at that rate in the year ahead. 

All of these factors will impact the financial services sector in Australia and its 

regulatory landscape. 

Regulator’s core areas of focus 

Protecting consumers 

Regulation generates substantial costs for all 

financial institutions. It does, however, serve 

a purpose to ensure the right outcomes are 

generated for customers and the wider economy. 

Market integrity 

Promoting effective competition 

Focus on outcomes 


Regulatory reform 

responds to a new 

landscape 

Regulatory reform has a history in Australia of 

underpinning economic reform. The Financial System 

Inquiry chaired by David Murray is establishing 

an important direction for the future of Australia’s 

financial system over the next decade at a time when 

the dynamics of technology and innovation have an 

increasing influence on desired outcomes. 

Previous financial system inquiries, including the 

Campbell Report in 1981 and Wallis Report in 1997, 

were the catalysts for major economic and regulatory 

reforms in Australia. The Murray Inquiry will be 

no different. 

Sixteen years on from the last financial system 

enquiry, it is informing the debate in Australian 

industry as to how its financial institutions can 

proactively engage in and shape policies that seek 

to serve an agenda defined by the needs of multiple 

stakeholders, and to promote growth, stability, 

innovation and choice – all linked with the G20 

regulatory agenda. 

Entities like Experian who have a global reach 

and depth of experience can offer a wide range of 

expertise, products and services to assist institutions 

to respond individually and effectively to this. 

44 recommendations shaping the future 

The Financial System Inquiry has put 44 recommendations in its Final Report to Government, offering 

what it describes as an ‘efficient, resilient and fair’ blueprint for the Australian financial system for the 

next decade and beyond. Its outcomes-based approach creates an environment in which Australia’s 

financial institutions have the opportunity to frame their own innovative response to the challenges 

of the macro and micro-economic environment. 

Matters raised by the recommendations include not only considerations of the Basel framework, and 

the importance of Australian banks being able to evidence capital resilience and competitiveness, but 

significantly also a focus on: 

1. The importance of innovation. The Murray Report recommends; 

• An ‘Innovation Collaboration’ – a public-private sector forum to identify trends, foster innovation and 

ensure forward looking regulation. 

• Developing a national strategy for a federated-style model of trusted digital identities. 

• Reviewing the costs and benefits of increasing access to and improving the use of data, taking into 

account appropriate privacy protections. 

It confirms that digital disruption is the new currency in financial services. The traditional participants 

in the Australian financial market have new challenges to meet from those disruptors using technical 

innovation to launch new products and new digital platforms. 

2. Superannuation reforms that sustain choice and efficiency of product delivery. 

3. Increased focus is being placed on product stability, performance in line with representations made 

and product and institutional governance in line with international trends. The Report calls out current 

shortcomings in disclosure, quality of advice and the need for both self-regulatory and regulatory changes 

to strengthen financial institutions’ accountability including the strengthening of ASIC’s regulatory powers. 


Comprehensive Credit Reporting is a must 

There’s a strong implication in the Report that, notwithstanding the transitional challenges to share positive credit reporting data (which 

are recognised), unless the industry itself embraces sharing of positive data by 2017, there is a real likelihood their doing so will be 

mandated by legislation. The Report acknowledges that the consumer benefit of the sharing of positive data is clear, including in increased 

competition between competitors. Early adopters will reap more benefits but these will even out as more participate and ultimately, positive 

data sharing will provide net benefits to all CPs with better credit decisioning based on the additional customer insights gained. Murray 

views favourably the submissions generally support expanding CCR data with more data fields – particularly account balances. However, 

additional data fields would have to be balanced against privacy concerns, and would require amendment of the Privacy Act. 

Clearly there is much still to be sorted from the Inquiry, with submissions being accepted up until 31 March 2015, and government 

determinations probably not going to be finalised until at least mid-2015. The message is clear for industry participants however – proactive 

involvement in generating change in line with the determinations of the report as the focus now shifts from the conduct of the Financial 

System Inquiry to Government and regulator involvement in framing outcomes. 

APRA reinforces sound lending practices 

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority recently released a final prudential practice guide for authorised deposit-taking 

institutions (ADIs) on sound risk management practices for residential mortgage lending. Prudential Practice Guide APG 223 

Residential mortgage lending (APG 223) summarises APRA’s expectations for good residential lending practices. It does not create 

any new prudential requirements for ADIs but includes guidance on addressing housing credit risk within an ADI’s risk management 

framework, applying sound loan origination criteria and appropriate security valuation methods, managing hardship loans and 

establishing a robust stress-testing framework. 

APRA Chairman Wayne Byres notes that residential mortgages constitute the largest credit exposure in the Australian banking 

system and developments in the housing market have been a significant area of supervisory focus for APRA over much of the past 

decade. 

‘Housing lending has historically demonstrated a low and stable risk profile compared with other lending exposures in 

Australia. However, for some time APRA has seen increasing evidence of residential mortgage lending with higher risk 

characteristics by Australian ADIs.’ 

ASIC continues its focus on responsible lending obligations 

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released in November 2014 an updated version of its guidance on 

responsible lending obligations – Regulatory Guide 209 Credit licensing: Responsible lending conduct (RG 209). ADIs need to consider 

this and other regulatory guidance when engaging in mortgage lending. 


New Bar for Banking 

Basel III raises bar for Australian banks 

The Global Financial Crisis brought into question the loss provisions of many international banks, 

prompting the development of Basel III, a new voluntary regulatory standard for bank capital adequacy. 

It’s a key issue here also in Australia with the Murray financial system inquiry flagging the possible risks 

of any future crises on Australian lenders. 

Basel III is issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee) and endorsed 

prior to release by the Group of 20 (G20). Australia is a member of both the Basel Committee and the 

G20 and has adopted these to support the resilience of the Australian banking system as the foundation 

for sustainable economic growth. 

Although not at the epicentre of the GFC crisis, Australia was not immune from the severe contraction 

in global liquidity, cross-border credit availability and demand for exports in spite of its strong pre-crisis 

economy, powerful and timely fiscal and monetary policy actions, and the strong prudential supervisory 

framework of APRA. 

Some of the fundamental factors that contributed to the global financial crisis overseas – insufficient 

regulatory capital and poor quality loss absorption of the capital base – were direct results of 

weaknesses in the existing global regulatory framework, Basel II. Given the impact of financial crises 

and the global nature of the financial system, Australia, as did many countries, adopted Basel III to raise 

the resilience of their banking sectors to both internal and external shocks which has contributed to the 

maintenance of the high regard for Australia’s banking system internationally. 

Adoption of the Basel III capital reforms is central to the resilience of its system. The underlying 

principle that regulatory capital is determined by reference to the risks ADIs face and the assets they 

hold remain the same. However, Basel III introduces more stringent criteria for inclusion in regulatory 

capital and by requiring higher minimum levels of that capital to be held against risk. 

Basel III also includes measures to: 

• improve the risk coverage of the Basel II framework by strengthening the capital requirements for 

counterparty credit risk exposures arising from derivatives, repurchase transactions and securities 

financing activities; 

• introduce a leverage ratio as a supplementary measure to the risk-based Basel II framework to help 

contain the build-up of excessive leverage in the banking system and safeguard against model risk 

and measurement error; and 

• introduce a series of measures to promote the build-up of capital buffers in good times that can be 

drawn upon in periods of stress. 

Compliance costs of Basel III include changes to current systems and processes. Added to the Murray 

Inquiry outcomes, the next few years will challenge the resourcefulness and the resilience of Australian 

banks and other financial institutions. 


DRIVING CUSTOMER CENTRICITY 

Good conduct is really about genuinely putting the customer at 

the centre of the organisation and how it operates serving them, 

thinking about yesterday, today and tomorrow, and being able to 

evidence this end-to-end process at individual customer level. This 

creates a number of challenges for businesses as the regulatory 

expectations continue to be redefined and focus continues on 

how a specific customer’s circumstances have been taken into 

account when reaching a specific outcome, what communications/ 

marketing materials they have received relating to this matter, 

whom they have spoken to and what was discussed. Appropriate 

handling and recording of this specific information at customer 

level requires continuing investment in robust processes and 

systems that provide levels of granularity, in cost effective ways 

that protect against future fines and reputational damage. 

Financial organisations will increasingly need to truly immerse 

their organisations in ‘always thinking about the customer’ across 

multiple channels and to take into account the potential for 

different channels to interact in the promotion of financial products 

and services. 

Customer Experience Models have become de rigeur in 

understanding where a company and its many different businesses 

are in their journey to delight their customers and serve them well. 

Meeting regulatory requirements can be a pain point – especially 

when things go wrong – but also provide opportunities to excel and 

grow sustainable businesses by truly focusing on the customer. 

The opportunity for every financial institution is to truly become 

a customer-centric organisation. By focusing on the customer 

and their needs/wants and problems, financial institutions will 

define our future solutions through truly understanding what 

the customer needs, and moving away from the perception of a 

‘product push’ sales focus, to service providers who know their 

customer better than anyone else and serve them well. 

PASSIONATE 

ENGAGED 

UNDERSTOOD 

HEARD 

IGNORED 

There are five levels of customer experience, ranging 

from companies that largely ignore customers to 

those that create passionate customers. 


CHANGING PARADIGM IS REDEFINING BANKING 

The challenge 

Offering the right financial product and 

guidance that meets their needs through their 

life stages 

Supporting and proactively contacting and 

advising where action would add value 

01 

Data 

Validated customer 

facts driving decisions 

and journey 

Data driven decisions: 

Solutions to customer needs, 

wants and problems 

To demonstrate you know your customer, 

have determined affordability and 

suitability to customers individual 

circumstances and have validated data 

provided. Delivering a consistent multi 

channel replicable experience. 

Giving choice to pick how they interact 

with the bank across channels based on 

convenience and price 

Outcome focused regulation materially 

impacts all main bank functions 

Regulatory moves to facilitate ‘switching’ 

increase pressure to retain and attract 

valuable customers 

Need to drive greater operational efficiencies 

in a changing regulatory environment 

Record: 

What happened, 

when and 02 

where 

Record the Record 

exact customer End to end 

experience customer 

that customers 

interactions 

have via digital, 

mobile, branch 

or telephony. 

Establish stage 

gates to ensure process 

progresses as required. 

Suitable outcome 

delivery 

03 

Evidence 

Playback 

and analyse 

experience 

when required 

Evidence: 

Replay individual 

situations 

Creates an audit 

trail that can play 

back the actual 

customer journey 

as they saw it, 

allowing access to 

customer information 

and records which can 

satisfy the regulator, 

provides evidence of what 

happened to challenge future complaints 

and ability to analyse and improve 

customer interaction with brand. 

Building an effective business operating model 

Australian financial institutions are seeing a significant change in the way people are borrowing and 

saving – and thinking about money. This places additional obligations on financial institutions to market 

products and services responsibly and responsively to the expectations of customers and the community. 

Applying and evidencing affordability of credit supplied and active management of customers in potential 

and real financial difficulty are key priorities. 

Future business operating models will require extensive use of customer data, from both internal and 

external sources, to prepopulate information and focus customer interactions on the customer need 

with suitable next steps defined by sophisticated decision engines, whilst creating a clear audit trail of 

what happened. This ‘big data’ will enable active management of ongoing customer needs and product 

suitability through event-driven alerts and triggers, whilst reducing cost to serve and improving the overall 

customer experience. 


A MODEL OF CHECKS AND BALANCES 

FOR A CUSTOMER MEETING 

A standardised, automated, recorded sales process which supports 

knowing your customers and delivering suitable outcomes 

Preview 

Before meeting customer, 

Adviser prepares for 

meeting, reviewing 

customer information. 

Appointment confirmed 

and pre-population 

agreement confirmed 

by SMS/email with 

customer ahead of 

meeting. 

Affordability 

Behind the scenes, the 

customers pre-populated 

income and expenditure 

and other affordability 

factors are validated to 

support any product 

recommendations or 

suitability reviews. 

Suitability 

Having gathered and 

validated data alongside 

product eligibility criteria, 

including credit check, 

all suitable outcomes are 

presented onscreen for 

the adviser to progress 

with Customer solution 

selection. 

Product 

application 

Complete credit check 

for appropriate products 

and feed into banks 

existing sales fulfilment 

process (DATA passed 

so no re-entry of data) or 

a decision management 

platform. 

Evidence journey 

By recording all the steps in the 

customer journey, we build evidence 

to support any future challenge to 

suitability and can centrally check 

what our sales team are doing with 

customers. Customer comms (video 

content) via email or SMS should be 

triggered to validate the customer 

is happy with purchases, post sale, 

with seller following up any concerns, 

which are further validated. 

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 

Future opportunity to 

build new integrated 

services to address 

customer or regulatory 

requirements 

Branch 

prospecting tools 

Adviser prospecting 

tool to drive customer 

appointments through 

annual reviews, life stage 

triggers, changes in 

circumstance e.g. house 

on market. Big Data 

driven insight. 

Review 

Customer meeting takes 

place, Identity and Fraud 

checks, pre-population 

of data from ‘knowing 

customer’ and quality 

conversation undertaken 

around their needs, 

wants and problems and 

solutions to address. 

Behind the scenes, 

various risk checks 

happen. 

Credit score 

Whilst discussing the 

customer’s current 

lending and credit 

requirements, show 

and explain how 

credit score is derived, 

how their actions can 

impact it (+ve) or (–ve), 

building awareness and 

understanding. 

Cross sell 

Using all available 

data to provide Adviser 

with suitable cross sell 

opportunities and options 

across bank’s full product 

suite. Time has been 

freed up due to prepopulation 

to give this 

area appropriate focus 

and time. 

Follow up 

To ensure the customer relationship is 

developed, feed data gathered into SVC/ 

Big Data solution and drive ongoing contact 

strategies relevant to individual, alongside 

triggering next review meeting in step 1. Also 

take credit search, CCJs, bankruptcy alerts to 

trigger follow up reviews. Reaffirm ongoing 

suitability. Phase 2: develop digital data tools 

for customer to re-engage with their data to 

control and direct their finances. Also utilise 

web analytical tools throughout the end-to-end 

process to refine it further. 


CREATING A CUSTOMER CULTURE 

Companies at each level of the evolution 

generate increasing business and 

customer value 

Stage Business Value Customer Value 

5 

Passionate 

Unprecedented relationships with customers 

mean business is the undisputed leader in the 

industry in key metrics such as Net Promoter 

Score and customer retention. 

Customers are passionate evangelists of 

the business, referring the business to their 

friends and creating viral-marketing situations. 

Customers feel privileged, share their positive 

experiences and encourage others to do business. 

4 

Engaged 

Comprehensive, actionable picture of 

customers, and a culture of accountability, 

ensure a business which is differentiated in the 

market and generates loyalty. 

Customers feel that the business cares about 

them and they trust the business. Customers are 

willing to pay more for increased value and feel 

rewarded for loyalty. 

3 

Understood 

Deep insight programmes in place that track 

and drive customer focus in the business and 

ensure a more consistent experience. 

Customers feel that their needs are mostly 

addressed by the products and services offered. 

2 

Heard 

A good understanding of who customers 

are and how they feel about the business 

can be leveraged to make some 

improvements in the customer focus. 

Customers feel that the business is interested 

in learning from them. But in the end, they don’t 

have much attachment yet. 

1 

Ignored 

Business is inward looking. Only most 

basic understanding of, or interest in, 

who customers are or how they feel. 

Customers often feel that the business does 

not understand or care about them. Customer 

experience is inconsistent and often unpleasant. 


DELIVERING GREAT CUSTOMER 

EXPERIENCES 

Businesses that want to deliver great customer experiences must work 

hard across three main pillars: 

insight 

A business must have a thorough, fact-based understanding of who its customers 

are, what they need and what their behaviour is. 

customer 

culture 

The entire business must be passionate about customers, from the CEO to the post 

room assistant. Delivering value to the customer is part of the daily way-of-working 

and at the heart of the organisation. 

experience 

design 

The business must define, design and deliver a consistent, differentiated experience 

at every single customer touch point, which delights the customer. 


MEASURING PROGRESS 

Stage Insight Customer Culture Experience Design 

5 

Passionate 

 

 

 

Proud customers promoting the business to 

friends/family/colleagues and through social media 

Consistent top box Net Promoter Scores 

Leader in revenue growth through delighting 

customers 

 

 

Collaborative innovation of products, 

services and experiences with customers 

Company organised around customers 

 

 

Individualised experiences delivered 

for different customer segments 

Pro-active actions in place for 

predicted experience failures 

4 

Engaged 

 

 

 

Constant awareness of how customers feel 

after any interaction 

Future impact of business actions on 

customer base fully understood 

Consolidated picture of customer needs, 

satisfaction and behaviour 

 

 

 

Customer insight used to drive annual 

strategic planning 

Customer-centred approach in place for 

all major initiatives 

Employee base engaged in living 

customer focus 

 

 

 

Total customer experience strategy 

defined 

Customer experience is consistent and 

differentiated 

Customers understand the experience 

they can expect 

3 

Understood 

 

 

 

Identification and targeted fulfilment of 

customer needs 

Drivers of customer behaviour understood 

Key customer behaviours used to trigger 

business response 

 

 

 

Employees understand available 

customer insights 

Business performance measured on 

customer satisfaction/behaviour 

Strong ‘internal customer’ service culture 

 

 

Key drivers of positive experiences 

actively managed 

Target customer experience defined 

2 

Heard 

 

 

Customer satisfaction and its drivers 

understood 

Understanding and clustering of 

customer base 

 

 

Management understands available 

customer insights 

Executives actively drive customer focus 

 

 

Customer experience continually 

improved 

Competitor customer experience 

understood 

1 

Ignored 

 

 

Tracking of competitive 

positioning 

Complaints managed and 

root causes established 

 

Executives understand importance of 

customer focus 

 

Critical customer experience failures 

addressed 


03 NEW ENTRANTS 


INTRODUCTION 

Digital Wallet 

and Mobile 

Payments 

New Banks and 

Divested Banks 

The next few years will see a significant number of new entrants 

enter the Australian financial services industry. Some will be 

well known and trusted brands who will leverage and deepen 

their relationship with customers through provision of financial 

services, with a particular focus on payments and mobile wallets. 

Others will be new names. Some will offer new innovative 

approaches to addressing customers’ needs through solutions 

like crowd funding; rethinking how SMEs finance the growth in 

their business. Some will exploit gaps in the market in the same 

way we have seen the short term lenders growing in prominence 

in recent years. 

Key areas of focus for these new entrants will be: 

£ 

Short Term 

Lenders 

Crowd Funding 

• Which markets are the most attractive to enter, in terms of 

customer segments, location and products? 

Australia’s financial services sector is being reshaped. The 

momentum for significant disruption, even as the banks look 

forward to delivering moderate profit growth, is being fed by 

a number of emerging trends. Consumers are demonstrating 

increased willingness both to shop around and to purchase 

financial services and products from non traditional 

providers. This move away from traditional sources is due in 

no small part to negative perceptions of the existing industry. 

Banks and other financial institutions are already facing 

the need to be bold to foster and accelerate change as they 

distinguish their products and services offering in a market 

characterised by promising growth. Strategic vision and 

innovation must be new priorities. 

• Which is the most viable approach to market entry? Should 

prospective entrants look to buy an incumbent or one of the 

businesses that are currently being divested, attempt to partner 

with an existing firm, search for an affinity relationship, or build 

an entire greenfield operation? In many cases, their decisions 

will be influenced by regulatory requirements. 

• What products will they offer and how will they differentiate their 

offer from the competition? Will differentiation centre on price, 

customer experience, customer service, or exploiting a new 

technology capability? 

• How will they distribute? Remotely or via face-to-face channels? 

• What will their operating model look like and where will their 

core competencies sit? Based on these characteristics, should 

they manufacture and distribute themselves and what should 

they look to outsource? 


MOBILE PAYMENTS: AN OPPORTUNITY AND THREAT 

VALUE DIAGRAM: MOBILE PAYMENTs 

Customer Priorities 

Customer Loyalty 

Levers 

Change Initiative: 

Mobile Payments 

Company 

Operation Levers 

Company Value 

Levers 

POSITIVE EXPERIENCE = CUSTOMER VALUE 

Save Time 

Increase 

Convenience 

Reduce 

Spending 

Avoid 

Counters/ATM 

Queues 

Queue Time 

Move cash 

whenever, 

wherever 

# of Payment Options 

Lower Bank Costs 

= Lower Charges 

Cost of Banking 

Improve 

Service and 

Increase NPS 

Avg time to serve 

Increase Customer 

Self-Service 

% Customers using 

mobile payment 

Reduce Capital ATMs 

and Property 

# of ATMS and 

branches per Customer 

Increase 

Revenue 

Reduce Costs 

Reduce Working 

Capital 

FREE CASHFLOW = SHAREHOLDER VALUE 

RISK – LOSS OF TRANSACTIONAL DATA IMPACTING BANK’S ABILITY TO HARVEST DATA AND KNOW THEIR 

CUSTOMER TO SERVE THEM WELL 


NON BANKS: 

DIGITAL WALLET 

Core Elements 

Digital wallet takes over money transmission…? 

The money transmission or current account has been the core product at the 

heart of the customer relationship for decades, with customers expecting 

an account which receives income, pays standing orders and direct debits, 

alongside providing a debit card all for free. The next few years will see a 

rapid adoption of mobile wallet services which, over time, could replace the 

traditional money transmission account. The more engaging and convenient 

experiences of digital wallet propositions will likely win, whilst leveraging 

existing banking payment infrastructure, and have the potential to replace the 

bank as the core relationship owner with customers. Banks could become a 

back-end service provider, still providing some non adopters with cards and 

cash – the question being where does the income get generated from? 

However, it’s not the first time that new technology has been positioned to be 

the end of traditional banking or of cash. Customer research often suggests 

a reluctance to switch to digital wallet, but research 10 years ago would have 

suggested MP3 players were just a fad. This challenge must be taken seriously 

by banks as the benefit of success is significant. The new entrants have no 

intention of becoming a physical bank and taking on the regulation and capital 

requirements this involves, but they are very much interested in taking a 

dominant share of the payments industry income. Success here will require 

merchant adoption of technology, new levels of security which don’t diminish 

the customer experience (biometrics?) and a simple service which allows users 

to bring together all their credit and debit cards. 

Phone replaces plastic cards 

Payments made via NFC 

Wallet consolidates all brands 

Provider levies fee on merchant 

Security and lost phone? 


NON BANKS: DIGITAL WALLET, MULTIPLE PLAYERS 

Early adoption 

Incorporating more than just payments has always been important and is where many NFC (Near Field 

Communication) trials have fallen down. Trying to get people used to tapping a phone to pay needs 

something more – a reward or loyalty incentive, as contactless credit cards and cash already give the 

customer what they need in terms of convenience. 

The use of mobile wallets is on the increase; mainly on mobile websites and apps, then more slowly 

through Google Wallet Cards or through tapping to pay. Consumers don’t want dozens of merchant apps 

on their smartphones. Mobile wallets can be a general purpose solution for payment and store loyalty. 

The big challenge, both conceptually and technologically, is sorting out the ‘tap and pay’ model to 

actually pay for goods in-store with a mobile wallet. Consumers are much happier using an enabled 

credit card to tap, and the technology for tapping smartphones isn’t yet standardised (there are still 

disagreements around which party – bank, phone provider, merchant, has the imperative to ensure 

security). 

Customer research globally at this time appears to suggest PayPal may be leading in this race in 

developing the customer’s trust. 

The near future is likely to see progression of innovative 

customer payment mechanisms including near Field 

Communication solutions. 


New Entrants 

New Entrants – Short Term Lenders 

The consumer credit industry is one of Australia’s largest industries. While 

banks and credit card companies remain the primary providers, there have been 

significant shifts in the personal loans sector in this market in recent years. 

Increasing numbers of households are seeking alternative means of obtaining 

cash advances; a supply-side opportunity quickly seized upon by high-cost 

credit firms and most notably, short term loan companies. 

Extending from sub-prime to mainstream credit, these companies have thrived. 

Past and current demand comes from a cross-section of individuals: men and 

women of varying ages, marital status, income and socio-economic group. 

Some have poor credit histories and limited access to other forms of cash 

advance. Others select the short term option on grounds of convenience, the 

relative anonymity of the approval process and the speed money is transferred. 

Short term lenders may be set for a challenging few years ahead, as the banks 

return stronger and more focussed on serving the needs of their customers, 

and the regulator finally steps in to protect the consumer from excessively high 

rates of interest. 


CROWD 

FUNDING AND 

INVESTING 

Crowd funding is making it easier to raise capital. There has been a consistent growth in the number of crowd funding 

platforms across the globe in recent years. They address a niche but growing segment of the market that no other financial 

system has been able to address well. Some of these crowd funding platforms are now moving from crowd funding to 

becoming crowd investing (in lieu of equity). What has been surprising, is that banking institutions have not led the way and 

adopted this model so far, but considered these as competition or a threat. This service sits somewhere between an SME 

business bank and the bank’s stockbroking arm offering customers access to IPOs and AIM listed companies. For investors, 

crowd funding has opened up new opportunities and simplified the traditional investment process. 

Banks already have access to: 

• Customers who have cash and could be potential investors. 

• Prospective customers who want money and are seeking business funding. 

By launching a crowd funding or crowd investing platform, the bank could: 

• Use the platform for all lending below a specific threshold, providing credit checks and payment mechanism. 

• Establish a ‘social banking concept’ which manifests itself through the hosting of P2P lenders and other crowd-financing. 

• Open up the non-secure lending market by routing all such requests via this platform. 

• Use the ‘wisdom of crowds’ to decide which projects get funded and which don’t. 

• Even go to the extent to commit to fund an amount equal to the amount that the project secures from the other investors. 

The current market in the UK is growing quickly from £310M in 2011 to £940M, with continuing growth projected to £1.6bn 

in 2014. 

This approach could potentially spread the risk on such investments and open up a new large market for the bank. As a 

bank, it would be easier to launch in terms of regulatory approvals in place, so that the entire model could scale much faster 

than it has so far, as investors have greater trust with a known bank brand. Volksbank Buhl, for example, one of the 1,100 

cooperative Raiffeisen banks, has become the 1st German bank to offer their customers a regional crowd funding platform. 

Crowd funding models are emerging for property investing, scientific research and angel investing. It is possible that within 

five years, crowd-funding could provide around £15 billion of finance per year in the UK. 

Tim Heasley of Artesian Capital Management has commented that in Australia, the year of 2014 has seen a number of startups 

and great investment grow momentum. He identifies that the restrictions for Australia developing the same growth in 

this sector as the UK are not only legislative but also and associated with the lack of education of investors as well as the 

risks and opportunities. Crowd funding is available to sophisticated investors only – those with a $250,000 gross salary over 

two years, or $2.5 million in net assets. If retail investors were to be empowered and enabled to participate in the benefits that 

could flow from crowd funding, these restrictors would need to be addressed. 

The Australian government is turning its attention to this topic as crowd funding becomes a potential means of sourcing the 

venture capital required for technology start ups in this country. As Australia embraces the digital economy, innovation is a 

necessity that needs to be encouraged. Innovation based on digital interactions, will continue to challenge banks and other 

financial services providers to find new ways to stay relevant and profitable. 



04 TECHNOLOGY

DELIVERING CHANGE 

Legacy 

Systems 

Offshoring 

Mandatory 

change 

Integrity 

and security 

Biggest 

constraint 

on business 

Help or 

hindrance 

Cost of 

staying in 

business 

Trust on 

every level 

Bespoke vs. 

standard? 

Have IT costs 

really reduced? 

Bespoke vs. 

standard? 

Minimum 

expectation 

The Influence of Technology 

Society’s willingness to embrace technology has never been higher. A range 

of affordable and readily accessible mobile and cloud technologies have led 

to changes in consumer behaviour and expectations. Technology has already 

redefined the music and book industry, resulting in completely new business 

models for accessing and consuming these media. 

Changes in consumer expectations represent a growth opportunity within 

financial services because technology enables credit providers to push their 

customer relationships in new directions. Financial services and technology 

are inextricably linked, with the very essence of their provision – from balances, 

transactions and customer information – existing in the service provider’s 

data centre. The use of new technologies will deliver a multichannel consumer 

experience and enable financial institutions to enhance their customer 

engagement strategy. 

More than ever before, technology is shaping the next evolution in the industry, 

whilst also constraining its progress. Redefining how technology is utilised over 

the coming years will be key to success. This is a decision beyond just the CTO, 

but one for the Board, investors and customers. 

Supporting 

innovation 

Speed 

matters 

Better is 

better than 

best! 


STANDARDISATION 

System standardisation at all levels 

Standardisation is important as it’s the key to unlocking lower operational costs and interoperability 

between functions and organisations. Consider the efficiency revolution that standardised 

shipping containers brought to the freight industry in the second half of the 20th century. 

Efficiencies gained from technology will also reshape the market. For example, to address 

mandatory changes, it will be cheaper to take a standard solution than continue building bespoke 

capabilities and focus resources on areas of brand differentiation. Even proven legacy functionality 

will require investment or selective replacement to deliver the required levels of agility. 

It is likely that banks and other service providers will more fully engage technology vendors and 

standards bodies in the definition and evolution of industry wide standards. The potential to 

deleverage costs in all financial services could be significant if the right level of collaboration 

were to be achieved. For example, does the Australian consumer need brand differentiation of 

the 30,000 or so ATMs that are surviving the attrition brought on by increased use of eftpos as 

well as cash-back facilities from supermarkets and the sharp take-up of mobile banking apps – 

smartphones and tablets? 


AP Interfaces TO SUPPORT 

BANKS’ SERVICE PROVISION 

AP Interfaces – Enabling legacy systems in new architecture 

models 

As banks rethink their technology models, one of the many options would be 

to build out a service orientated architecture model which redefines current 

functionality as separate, reusable services or Application Programme 

Interfaces (AP Interfaces). An AP Interface is a programme that can access 

systems, data or technology through a simple interface. AP Interfaces allow 

banks to access a range of functions/services including future third party 

services which may not yet exist. 

Historically, banks have hundreds of independent back end systems, all built for 

specific purposes. By building an AP Interface to these services, you unlock the 

functionality within a service-oriented architecture so that the services can be 

used to benefit customers and banking operations. This will be key in delivering 

‘anytime, anywhere’ banking and making multi-channel banking possible when 

married with business process and rules engines. 

This approach also supports the more evolutionary nature of ‘agile’, where 

delivery is quick and then adapts. You build incrementally upon functionality 

which is working and make it better inch by inch, rather than trying to deliver 

revolution via waterfall delivery methods – which in banking takes years, costs 

double the budgeted spend and delivers half the benefits, because the scope 

has been changed so much to get it delivered at all, all the added value has 

been lost. 

External providers have a big role to play in this area going forward, by providing 

new services to banks which fit a standard model of required functionality. For 

example, the recent FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) regulation 

has required all banks to make changes to their systems to capture data 

on customers who are US citizens, residents etc. Banks and other financial 

services firms have spent $M’s each on developing bespoke systems, whereas 

off the shelf solutions may instantly meet 60-80% of requirements and deploy 

for significantly less cost, far quicker. Speed matters more than ever before. 


BIG DATA TO ACTIONABLE INSIGHT 

Consumers are no longer satisfied with one-size-fits all service delivery. The 

emergence of ‘big data’ will allow providers to switch to a customer-centric philosophy 

by identifying the differing needs of individual customers. Banks and other financial 

service providers will have enough information to tailor products and services to very 

specific segments. 

To explore ways to better harness data, providing more precise, customised and 

quality solutions 

Almost everything that happens in the developed world is tracked by computers these days. Banks 

are not the only entities that record very detailed information about how, what, where and when their 

customers buy from them, how well their staff perform, how their supply chain works, what products 

make and lose money, which marketing offers and channels work best on different days of the week, 

and so on. Everything that happens in the entity, no matter how trivial, gets recorded somewhere on 

a computer. 

All of this tracking, monitoring and measuring creates a vast ocean of information, called ‘Big Data’. 

Facilitates 

cost 

reduction 

Enables 

targeted customer 

marketing and 

“flight to quality” 

Supports drive 

towards customer 

centric products, 

services and 

processes 

Most of the big data in the world doesn’t even come from tracking human behaviour in this way; it’s 

‘machine generated’. Think about smart-meters used to monitor your energy or water consumption 

sending data to the utility provider’s computers, or all of the ATM machines in a branch network 

reporting their performance data to a central computer. There are thousands of different situations 

in which machines generate and record data about their activities. Because we now have so much 

data about the many different ways the world around us works, we can analyse that data to look for 

interesting patterns. Financial service providers can find hidden patterns which will help them spot 

opportunities to save money or sell more; the data might reveal previously unnoticed patterns in the 

way people buy certain products, or inefficiencies in the way the rest of the business operates. Big data 

can mean big money. Banks and others are investing a lot in the technology and skills required to store 

and analyse their ever-increasing data sets, to discover the potentially valuable hidden patterns. But it’s 

not easy. Big data requires high end hardware and software, so you need people who have the skills to 

manage that side of things, but you also need people who understand how to properly analyse it all, and 

these ‘data scientists’ are in high demand. 


HARNESSING BIG DATA TO SERVE 

CUSTOMERS BETTER 

Banks and others also have an opportunity to personalise their online banking 

to each individual using Big Data insights. Websites will become dynamic and 

will change according to the personal preferences and interests of the user. 

A web experience that is more relevant to the customer will increase loyalty 

and cross-sales. 

Person centric database 

Precise customer 

segmentation allowing 

marketing of tailored 

products and services. 

Provision of personalised 

time and location 

dependent offers 

Be compliant 

Treat customers fairly 

Improve quality 

Address standardisation 

and evergreening 

Cut Costs 

Communication 

Processing 

Links all data about an 

individual to one person. 

 

 

Creates a single view 

of the person. 

 

Understand the effect 

of data 

Adding new data 

Increase Revenue 

Cross Sell 

Identify correct products 

Reduce Losses 

Understand exposure 

Understand behaviour 

The layout and marketing material on websites will change in real time to reflect 

what the customer has looked at previously or the user’s other activities in 

cyberspace. For example, if they have been searching for credit cards on Google, 

the website will update to display credit card products. 

Consumers will be able to fully personalise the look of their online banking 

portal, for example by changing which accounts appear by default on the home 

screen, or by attaching photos to accounts and “nicknaming” them to speed up 

navigation around the site. 

The font size of text and the contrast of colours will automatically change 

according to a user’s preferences. 

The offering of a personalised service helps to increase customer loyalty and 

advocacy as the customer feels they are receiving a good service. One of the 

best ways a bank can offer a personalised service is to predict an individual 

customer’s financial needs. In the future, banks will use big data analytics to 

understand a customer’s financial intentions and needs before they act on them, 

and send relevant marketing material ahead of time. Ironically this is what Bank 

Managers did for customers 25 years ago before banking changed! 

For example, a bank could determine a customer is considering buying a house 

from a 3rd party credit provider, and send information on specific mortgages 

the customer is likely to be approved for. Or the bank may understand from a 

customer’s smartphone location and credit card transactions that the customer 

has made a significant purchase from a furniture store and send the customer an 

SMS about upgrading their home contents insurance. 


SECURITY and BIOMETRICS 

Smartphones have features that could help 

make the banking experience more secure 

but less intrusive, helping remove the need for 

multiple passwords and additional card reader 

security devices. 

It’s a phone = Voice Biometrics (Passive/Active) 

It’s a camera = Passive Facial Recognition/Iris Scanning 

It’s a videophone = Active Facial Recognition 

The introduction of a single 

digital identity with which 

consumers can log in to any 

website is a realistic solution 

for the future. It could also act 

as a data locker for customer 

information so they don’t 

need to enter information into 

websites. 

It’s a GPS enabled device = Geo-location (home/work location) 

It’s a scanner = Fingerprint Recognition 

It’s an identity = Device Intelligence 

The key to the success of biometrics is whether they can be circumvented 

More consumers will have the 

technology to allow them to use 

mobile banking services 

PRE RECORDED 

VOICE 

PHOTO 

Customers’ willingness 

to use biometrics to 

identify themselves 

They will not want 

convoluted log in 

processes to do banking 

on the device 

They will continue to expect their 

bank to keep their money and data 

secure 


INNOVATION IMPACTING 

BANKING: ID and FRAUD 

1. SWIPE 2. SCAN 

Review your purchases and 

swipe your credit card 

Link card to palm/hand / for 

future cardless payments 

3. FINISH 4. REVIEW 

Scan palm/hand at future 

checkouts and select desired 

card for payment. 

Review transactions, 

track expenses, and 

manage your wallet 

Single digital identity 

What is it – Having to remember a myriad of usernames and 

passwords is a friction point for consumers. The introduction of a 

single digital identity with which consumers can log in to any website 

is a realistic solution for the future. It could also act as a data locker 

for customer information so they don’t need to enter information 

into websites. Implementing a single digital identity will simplify the 

protection of consumers. 

PulseWallet – pay with a hand 

wave 

What is it? – Fujitsu PalmSecure 

biometric sensors use a nearinfrared 

light to capture a user’s 

palm vein pattern, generating a 

unique biometric template that is 

matched against the encrypted 

patterns of pre-registered users. 

Registration at any PulseWallet 

terminal takes less than one 

minute and authentication takes 

less than one second. 

Mobile image capture 

What is it? – Customers resent 

having to present ID and other 

documentation in branches. This 

functionality already used by 

NatWest and RBS in the UK allows 

customer to take photos of the 

ID when its convenient for them 

and upload it to the bank. Future 

developments of image capture 

will allow customers to submit 

identification, utility bills and proof 

of income reducing the need for 

enforced branch visits. 


PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TOOLS – CASE STUDIES FROM OVERSEAS 

PFM could be the core customer interface across channels 

Mobile 

Monthly spend summary 

PFM 

Personal Data 

Consolidation, 

Insight & Action 

Your spending 

Online 

Category Spending (£) 

Mortgage / rent 800.00 

Living / Travel 680.00 

Credit card 200.00 

Loan 365.00 

Insurance 400.00 

Regular savings 300.00 

Life & Pensions 1200.00 

Other commitments 230.00 

Total 4175.00 

The provision of detailed, actionable insight is transforming PFM into a service with clear mass 

market and high net worth appeal that has the ability to drive profitability, loyalty and other customer 

metrics whilst also being a key tool in serving customers across channels. The premise of PFM 

is that it consolidates or aggregates all the customers financial detail into one area, pulling data 

through multiple logins into one highly visual interface and highlights areas of potential extra focus 

across levels of customer sophistication from ‘you are spending more than you earn’,to ‘you have 

a retirement planning issue’ to ‘your portfolio is overweight in Japanese and technology stocks’. 

Effective use of such tools whilst being highly engaging for self service could also be fashioned 

to support adviser led interactions where the data is already assimilated and the focus is on the 

needs, wants and problems of the customer rather than the current 45 minute plus data transfer 

conversation that is the precursor to any personal banking, mortgage or wealth adviser meeting, 

which customers are bored of completing. 

PFM creates a completely new opportunity bringing data and tools together about the customers 

finances, to give a simple clear view which they can interact with to make the most of their money 

to drive action and monitor progress. Some overseas banks that have implemented MoneyDesktop 

into their digital banking solutions have reported that as many as 60% of their customers were 

using the service within the first year. Significant improvements have been seen in profitability (12% 

growth in profit per customer), average balances (9% rise in average balances), and retention rates 

(4% improvement in retention) among users of the service, according to MoneyDesktop’s research. 

An independent PFM provider linked to a price comparison capability could make a very compelling 

proposition for consumers to save money and obtain best in market deals. The increasing complexity 

of managing finances combined with a higher frequency of account switching could see personal 

financial management (PFM) providers take over primary customer relationships. 

You’re spending less than you earn each month, with £230 left over. 

Where the money goes 

Your spending 





Loan 365.00 





Total 4175.00 

Needs and goals 

Is there anything you’d like to talk about or start planning today? 

Affordability validation 

Branch and 

Telephony 

+Add 

NEXT 


EXAMPLE OF PERSONAL 

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 

FROM OTHER MARKETS 

ReadyForZero is a US provider helping Consumers in debt 

giving them a way to automatically manage and reduce 

debt online. In the United States, Americans manage over 

$11 trillion in personal debt on their own. Reducing debt 

and building wealth are common financial goals that affect 

more than 144 million Americans. 

ReadyForZero can help Consumers better manage credit 

card, student loan, mortgage, Car loan or other personal 

debt online – automatically. 

Primary focus of their toolset is on Tackling Debt + Protect 

Credit with proven financial tools for managing debt, 

tracking credit, and building wealth. 

Step 1: Get your free 

ReadyForZero plan 

Take control of your debt with 

this free tool. Get a 360-degree 

view and make smarter decisions 

on your own with a complete 

picture of your finances. This 

award-winning online and mobile 

planning tool is free forever. 

Step 2: Upgrade to reach your 

financial goals faster (monthly 

fee) 

“I’m still over the moon that I 

was able to pay down all my 

high interest debt and I credit 

ReadyForZero with keeping me on 

track. You made me feel like I was 

pursuing a goal rather than barely 

staying ahead of ever-mounting 

debt. It’s a subtle difference in 

thought but it made a huge impact 

on me.” User 

“ReadyForZero is dedicated to the creation of 

financial tools that simplify your life”. 

Know and Track Your Credit Score with ReadyForZero PLUS 

Upgrade to ReadyForZero PLUS Credit to get your VantageScore 3 credit 

score (provided by Experian), which we’ll update monthly for you. What 

better way to measure your financial health and succeed financially? 

Automate Your Plan with ReadyForZero 

PLUS 

Boost your plan with automatic payments. 

Your upgraded ReadyForZero PLUS plan 

works for you around the clock with biweekly, 

monthly, and one-time payments that save 

you time and money. Automate all your 

payments to tackle debt faster, and use our 

deposit alerts to make payment decisions. 


MOBILE BANKING 

cheque 

£ 

cheque 

Mobile wallet 

What is it? – Mobile wallets are the 

smartphone versions of older online 

wallets. Storing your credit card details, 

shipping details, etc., on the mobile 

wallet allows a user to speed through a 

digital or real checkout. Mobile wallets 

often allow consolidation of merchant 

specific cards and apps, as well as loyalty 

programmes. 

Mobile Currency Cards 

What is it? – Mobile multi-currency 

cards – are increasingly used worldwide 

when travelling or shopping online. There 

are a number of examples already in the 

Australian market. 

Mobile cheque pay in 

What is it? – Available in the US 

for a number of years the UK is now 

investigating rule changes to allow 

the introduction of remote cheque 

deposits, via mobile phone cheque image 

processing over the next few years. This 

should reduce processing times from 6 to 

2 days. Over £840 billion of cheques were 

processed in the past year, accounting for 

over 10% of all payments. 

What this could mean for the Australian 

market has yet to be explored. 



payment 

£ 

£ 

PAY 

Mobile bill payment 

What is it? – Bill payment is a tedious 

and mundane task with a risk of input 

error. 

By automating this and removing the 

hassle from the process, banks can 

transform the user experience. 

Removing the need to manually enter 

bill payment details and setting up the 

payment information into the customers 

online and mobile banking account. 

Predictive balances 

What is it? – Predictive balances 

calculated based on previous spending 

patterns effective or predictive balances, 

during pay cycles. The ability to access 

this information at the point of sale 

significantly increases its relevance and 

usefulness to consumers by providing 

an indication of affordability. Go Banks – 

Fortune teller provides this functionality 

within their mobile app. 

Mobile camera becomes a keyboard 

What is it? – Taking photos of key 

information to reduce or eliminate 

steps in an application or other process 

through extending mobile image capture 

capability will be a major factor in 

improving customer experience. For 

example applying for car insurance 

could be facilitated by a photo of driving 

licence, existing cover document and 

vehicle V5 document. 



Quick balance check 

Mobile alerts 

Notification 

Message 

alert from 

your bank 

What is it? – To drive greater adoption 

and engagement, banks need to take a 

more active role in helping customers 

proactively manage their finances 

through real-time notification of events 

that impact their accounts. 

Alerts can provide the foundation for 

greater interaction with your customers, 

increasing engagement, lowering 

servicing costs and even providing 

potential revenue opportunities. Some 

allow the user to alert the bank of lost 

or stolen cards triggering card blocking 

automatically. 


What is it? – The quick 

balance feature introduced 

by Bank of the West is a 

simple feature which allows 

users to check their balance 

without logging into their 

account, by dragging down 

the banks logo at the top of 

the login screen, they can 

see their account balance. 

The bank has reported a 

tripling of daily login volumes since introducing 

this opt in feature. 

In the local Australian market, great new 

features like MoneyMeter in the St.George 

Banking App is a fast and convenient way to 

check and track your available balance at any 

time. With a simple swipe from the home page, 

MoneyMeter will tell you how much, or how 

little, you have available to spend without the 

need to log on to mobile banking. 

National Australia Bank announced a money 

management tool as one of the latest part of the 

bank’s technology overhaul. The Money Tracker 

tool integrates with NAB’s Internet banking 

service to analyse a customer’s transaction 

history and map spending behaviour. The tool 

can also suggest budget targets based on 

previous spending and make forecasts for the 

future. 

Commonwealth Bank is also leading innovation 

in the launch of MyWealth, a website showing 

customers’ bank accounts and investments in 

one place. 

Mobile and social media together 

What is it? – Customers want to be able to 

reach their bank in different ways. Avid users 

of social media increasingly conduct much 

of their lives through sites like Facebook, 

making use of embedded applications. Banks 

and many other organisations are starting to 

exploit this by adding more communications 

options to their social media pages. Bank 

of America has combined contact options 

with other initiatives, such as a switch from 

a sales- and product-led approach, to service 

and consultative approach. This has led 

to a fivefold increase in the number of 

customers visiting branches for investment 

advice, from 5,000 a week to 25,000, according 

to the bank’s figures. More contact options 

will result in more opportunities for banks.

VIDEO INNOVATION IMPACTING BANKING 

Monthly spend summary 

You’re spending less than you earn each month, with £230 left over. 

Where the money goes 

Your spending 





Loan 365.00 





Total 4175.00 

How do I – Invest for my retirement? 

Needs and goals 

Is there anything you’d like to talk about or start planning today? 

+Add 

Affordability validation 

Video Chat and ‘Push to Talk’ or ‘Click to 

Chat’ Help 

What is it? – Integrated assistance similar 

to current web chat capabilities but with 

a face and a voice allowing customers to 

interact with centrally located advisers 

helping them with questions, assisting them 

in understanding their position and guiding 

them to product solutions and servicing. 

Simplified distribution dramatically reduces 

cost to serve, whilst maintaining customer 

engagement, with fewer security and ID 

hurdles. 

YouTube education – video vs. text 

What is it? – With the majority of web 

content being consumed in the future by 

video, this creates a fantastic platform 

for banks to engage customers through 

educational and advisory content to help 

them manage their finances better and 

achieve their goals. Covering the basics 

to the complex. You Tube has 1 billion 

users, consuming 6 hours of content a 

month. Another option for use could be to 

send video links to customers post sale to 

re-emphasise key features. 

One-to-One guidance and help 

What is it? – Google ‘Helpouts’ is a new 

Google service that puts the confused in 

touch with the clued up via paid hangout 

calls. Whilst it doesn’t cover financial 

matters yet, a growing demand for expert 

guidance on all matters will connect 

people globally in this way. 

Banks and financial advisers could easily 

leverage this infrastructure to engage 

with new and existing customers. 


THE LATEST INNOVATIONS 

3D printing 

What is it? – 3D printing could become 

a mass market item because domestic 

3D printers can offset their capital costs 

by enabling consumers to avoid costs 

associated with purchasing common 

household objects. They could also 

unleash a new wave of creative thinking 

and business opportunities as they allow 

people to prototype and design ideas at 

home. The biggest impact in banking 

in the short term is likely to be through 

fraud. 

Wearable tech 

What is it? – Technology that we wear 

will become more common place from 

watches, exoskeletons frames which 

help mobility of the elderly and disabled 

to google glass. Turkish bank TEB has 

developed a Google Glass © app, enabling 

wearers to find ATMs and branches and 

track credit card campaigns. The bank 

estimates that 50 million wearable tech 

devices will be sold this year, rising to 500 

million in 2018. 

Natural Language Interface 

What is it? – It’s a voice driven interface 

technology like Apple’s Siri on an 

iPhone or IBM’s Watson TM , designed to 

help navigate sites or answer questions 

asked in natural language and to make 

judgments by drawing on a vast body 

of data which it then applies machine 

learning too, to improve the accuracy 

of its responses. It could be advising 

customers on mortgages or picking 

stocks in the near future. 

Apple, the Apple logo, Siri and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. © 2012 Google Inc. All rights reserved. Google and the Google Logo and Google Helpouts 

are registered trademarks of Google Inc. IBM’s Watson TM is a registered trademark of Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. 


The way forward 

Technology solutions lie at the centre of effective delivery of business 

strategy. The technological options are multifarious and it is often 

challenging choosing between them, especially when seeking to 

meet customer and business expectations as well as regulatory and 

compliance obligations. 

At the heart of whatever innovative solutions are selected, core business drivers 

include: 

• Meeting prudential responsibilities including providing for appropriate customer 

disclosure and assessment, keeping accurate records and facilitating effective 

product and service delivery. 

• Protecting platforms and systems and customer and business information from 

external threats. 

• Leveraging customer and business data to improve customer experience and 

grow portfolio performance. 

Other challenges for all financial services institutions include managing customer 

expectations against the continual drive to improve profitability. 

Unlocking that potential competitive edge requires financial institutions to consider 

the synergy benefits from system standardisation, AP interfaces that streamline 

data exchange between otherwise incompatible systems and mining Big Data for 

insights on tailoring products that increase revenue. 

New financial service providers are challenging traditional providers to leverage 

the possibilities brought by the digital evolution to work smarter, faster and better. 

Institutions that are leveraging their customer data and turning it into relevant and 

innovative products and services are being rewarded by greater levels of customer 

satisfaction, and positive impacts on their business’ bottom line. 

Experian brings a global depth of experience in assisting all organisations to meet 

these and other core business objectives.


05 BANKING 

EVOLUTION 


THE FUTURE 

Banks 

Least trusted sectors 

Financial 

services 

Energy 

Food and 

beverages 

Consumer 

electronics 

Most trusted sectors 

Media Pharmaceuticals Entertainment Technology 

The key to future progress is renewed focus on the customer 

Banking is about people, money and trust. Technology has a 

growing part to play. The fundamentals of looking after customers 

and serving them well, investing in and empowering people who 

look after those customers and taking calculated and informed 

financial risks remain the foundation of the Australian banking 

and financial services industries. 

It is recognised worldwide that Australia has a sound, well 

capitalised banking sector. Its banks are large by global 

standards, with a strong retail base, highly developed wealth 

management capabilities, as well as full service commercial, 

trade finance and corporate advisory operations that reach 

out across the region. However, customers will always be king 

and serving them is the best way to maintain sustainable and 

profitable financial services businesses. 

Customer insight driven operations 

Detailed, data driven, understanding of who each customer 

is and their needs. Systems and process are driven around 

serving customer well 

Highly automated intelligent decisioning 

Exploiting data assets and data analytics to transform the 

end to end customer experience, whilst stripping out cost 

and managing risk 

Regulatory change built in 

Solutions driven by regulation need to be an integrated service 

in the overall customer experience and service architecture 

Self service migration 

Solution innovation will be focussed on self service 

capabilities for digital which can be repurposed across 

other channels quickly to enable lower cost to serve and 

simplification of existing processes and technology 

If too much energy goes into chasing 

yesterday’s problems, developing more 

co-ordinated regulation, we will only succeed 

in creating a new bubble or more systemic risk 

in the banking system. 


THE FUTURE 

Customer 

Educated and empowered by their bank and 

financial services providers. With the right 

tools, products and information to manage their 

finances and make decisions after meaningful 

conversations. 

Relationship with bank 

A trusted, transparent, two way relationship, where 

customers are fully informed about the costs and 

benefits of the products and services they choose 

and how they might meet their current and future 

needs, and the provider proactively engages 

the customer at the right time with relevant 

information to help the customer avoid financial 

nightmares and achieve their goals. 

Customer 

centric conduct 

environment 

Customer centric 

approach to regulation 

creates a growth 

opportunity for those 

who genuinely know and 

meet their Customers’ 

needs. 

Customer 

advocacy & Net 

Promoter Score 

Delivering great service 

and driving customer 

advocacy is a minimum 

expectation and crucial 

to a bank’s operations 

in a market where poor 

service can easily result 

in switching banks. 

Cost/income ratio 

and sustainability 

The main lever banks 

have in their direct 

control to drive growth 

in a flat economy with 

low interest rates, will 

be to rapidly reduce 

costs – alongside greater 

transparency on free 

banking. 

Supporting market integrity and continuing growth 

Flight to better 

quality customer 

portfolio 

Focus must be on 

growing profitable 

segments whilst 

providing simple low cost 

banking to low margin / 

loss making customers. 

More customers doesn’t 

always equal more profit 

Technology enables 

Helping customers and those who serve them live, 

work, play and learn in an easier, more convenient 

way, giving them control anytime, anywhere, always 

on and available. Always able to ask questions and 

get answers. 

Safe and secure 

Keeping customers and Banking as safe as 

possible from threats of data loss, fraud and 

reputational damage. 

Cross sale 

penetration 

Banks need to 

dramatically increase 

cross sell penetration 

and share of wallet from 

their existing customers 

by knowing them better 

than the competition. 

Technology 

constraints 

Maintaining resilience 

whilst improving 

capability and capacity, 

whilst innovating, will be 

challenging with legacy 

systems and delivery 

models. 

New lending 

concepts 

Innovation in the lending 

market through crowd 

funding / peer to peer 

lending will grow as 

investors seek out better 

returns. Payday lenders 

will evolve their offering 

and fees. 

New entrants 

Competition from 

multiple new entrants will 

be significant – service, 

distribution, technology, 

targeting profitable 

segments with attractive 

rewards. 

Regulator’s goal 

The aim of the regulator and of continuing 

regulator reform is to foster an environment in 

which consumers have the information they need 

to work out which products might best meet their 

needs. 

Digital tools are allowing banks to re-engage with customers 

Improving customer engagement is necessary to retaining trust. Customers are already doing this 

through their use of mobile, where they are touching their financial services brands on a much higher 

frequency. Investment in this channel can only enhance the brands in the customer’s eyes due to 

the great service they can consistently receive. Maintaining trust and relationship is essential to the 

improvement of financial performance and maintenance of return to shareholders. 

Customer-centric design and delivery provides the customer with the tools and information they need 

to control their finances as effectively as possible. 


COMPREHENSIVE 

CREDIT REPORTING 

Comprehensive Credit Reporting – A New Opportunity 

Early adopters of Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) will be looking to use their appetite and ability to leverage 

positive data to maximise value immediately and therefore gain competitive advantage over those who don’t. 

In contrast to the old model of relying on negative data to assess the credit worthiness of potential customers, today’s 

provider can use positive data to achieve a clearer indication of a borrower’s debt profile and their potential ability to 

handle credit – each key elements of customer acquisition strategies. 

Early Movers Grab Market Share 

Lenders around the world who quickly embraced positive reporting were able to cherry-pick better risk customers, leaving 

their competitors with adverse selection from a pool of potentially riskier accounts. 

Feedback from overseas bankers who have made the full transition to CCR shows that, 70 per cent saw an increase in 

lending, 80 percent saw a decrease in delinquency rates and 70 percent were able to widen the customer base by lending 

to previously under-served segments. 

More than 70 per cent of lenders in transitioning economies reported using CCR 

data to achieve increased margins. 

This huge increase in positive outcomes boosts activity and drive economic growth. Lenders report that a switch to CCR is 

also good for consumers as it increases access to credit for many, and helps ensure that borrowers receive credit products 

suited for their individual circumstances. 

Experian’s early-mover clients overseas have seized opportunities to use comprehensive data to design new finance 

products and programs that are more profitable. More than 70 per cent of lenders transitioning economies reported using 

CCR data to achieve increased margins. 

Global Expertise to Secure Australian Success 

Drawing on its global success, Experian will also position Australian lenders to benefit from the changes to credit 

reporting. No other credit bureau in Australia has the breadth of CCR experience around the world that Experian has 

achieved. 

Adopting CCR involves realigning business strategies and Experian is here to assist lenders to get the most out of 

the insight and predictive power offered by increased data. 

Our experts help establish timelines for integration of data reporting including technical connectivity, operational 

and compliance issues, and models for decision-making. 


RETAIL 

A new bank proposition – helping educate, plan and 

protect for life’s financial journey 

Australian retail banks are challenged to differentiate themselves from one 

another. They offer the same products via the same channels, which brings 

with it the danger of being seen as a utility service, leading to customer apathy 

over the choice of provider. 

Internally banks have done a phenomenal job in keeping the show on the road 

over the past five years in what has been life changing times. 

Advice Sector vs. Sales Sector 

Wealth is global with the advent of the global career, and advice (e.g. adviser 

time) and education are now as important as specific customer product 

offerings and other services. 

There is an urgency in the industry to get to grips with how personalised 

service and technology can co-exist to reinvent customer propositions. These 

propositions may include insights from social media as well as from more 

usual contexts from which data insights are obtained, as customers broadcast 

changes in their life and status. Recommendations via LinkedIn, video chat 

interaction, real-time questions and answers, connectivity and control are all 

major catchcries. Technology allows the creation of a global view of customers, 

their assets and liabilities and their future plans. 

Core channels converge 

Branch 

Telephony 

Online 

Mobile 

Banks are starting to introduce services that help businesses connect, network 

and do business with other businesses. 

Providers could develop new concepts to help business by making targeted 

marketing data and tools available to customers to help them grow their 

business. Business would also benefit from digital assistance that supports 

them locally. 

Services like these will be key to generating customer delight and building 

reputations for helpfulness, those things that will help banks and the financial 

services industry to grow – ‘give to get’. 

Social 


Helping customers with non-core banking activities 

SME BUSINESS 

Business Banking in Australia, as elsewhere, is a tough and highly competitive market. SME lending 

has come under the regulatory microscope adding to the complexity and risk inherent in lending 

money to businesses, particularly in a tough economy. Protection of brand as well as continued and 

innovative engagement of customers are more important than ever in this space. 

One area banks could lead in the SME space is through developing crowd funding/investment 

platforms which are credible, due to their unique position. Alongside this there are a number of areas 

where banks could help business through using their scale to make services available which support 

their customers. Innovative ideas such as NatWest/RBS’s BizCrowd community which helps connect 

small businesses and provide guidance could be extended by connecting retail customers to business 

customers and also retail customers to their financial institutions. 

Another option would be to provide access to Big Data marketing technology and segmentation 

models at a local level to help businesses grow by targeting the right customers. Also cash flow 

management solutions could be provided to help in real areas of need in a small business, supported 

by a comprehensive YouTube suite of education and information on running a business/cash flow 

management. 

Banks are starting to introduce services that 

help businesses connect, network and do 

business with other businesses. 

Providers could develop new concepts to help 

business by making targeted marketing data 

and tools available to customers to help them 

grow their business. Business would also 

benefit from digital assistance that supports 

them locally. 

Services like these will be key to generating 

customer delight and building reputations 

for helpfulness, and will help banks to grow – 

‘give to get’. 

Banking and Financial Services are not immune from the data solutions revolution that is enabling 

retailers and manufacturers to significantly increase global sales and channels of online growth and 

marketing. This trend in Australia is being supported by a robust regulatory framework of ecommerce 

and the readiness of Australian consumers to embrace online interactivity in all aspects of their lives. 

Reports such as the NAB Online Retail Sales Index of July 2014 that noted Australians were spending 

and estimated $15.6 billion each year online, suggest the enormity of the market. 

The way forward necessarily involves the development of and full utilisation of digital strategies to 

meet consumers’ current and future needs. Experian is the right partner to assist the financial services 

industry to do just this; through its range of Australian businesses it can bring a wealth of global 

knowledge and real expertise in dealing with issues ranging from infrastructural issues to customers’ 

increasing demand for agility and responsiveness. As Russell Zimmerman, ARA Executive Director, 

urged Australian retailers, it is now vital organisations invest time working on the business not just 

in the business, in order to fully explore and capitalise on the potential of the marketplace, both in 

Australia and overseas. We are here to support you to do just that! 


THE way forward 

Financial institutions have to do more than be customer-focused 

and meet their regulatory obligations if they are to succeed in 

today’s and tomorrow’s banking world. 

Actively placing an increasingly sophisticated customer at the core 

of all decision-making will be vital to thriving in a future where even 

crowd-funding and peer-to-peer lending may soon seem old hat. 

Technology is the key to transforming the financial services 

sector so that it can remain relevant to its customers and meet 

their expectations. Brand loyalty follows when the right products 

are delivered through the right channels to meet customers’ 

requirements, including for digital solutions. 

Financial institutions of the future will achieve the best outcomes 

when they can leverage all their customer knowledge especially the 

data collected from the different channels their customers use to 

interact with them. 

Success will depend on an organisation’s ability to access both 

internal banking data and external data including that drawn from 

comprehensive credit reporting, property transactions, asset 

valuations and different socio-demographic sources. 

Monetising this knowledge requires high-tech analytical tools 

to empower staff and systems to best identify the products that 

meet customers’ needs, while maintaining prudential controls and 

organisational sustainability and growth. 

Importantly, the technology must be flexible enough to adapt to 

regulatory and global changes, as much as to meet new product 

and service requirements. And that is the edge that tomorrow’s 

organisations need for a competitive advantage that delivers great 

customer and industry outcomes. 

Financial institutions have to do more than be 

customer-focused and meet their regulatory 

obligations if they are to succeed in today’s and 

tomorrow’s banking world. 


CONTACT US 

STRATEGIC CLIENT TEAM 

We have a dedicated senior team who support our customers across the Banking and Financial 

Services industries. 

If you have a question or want to know more about how Experian could help your organisation, 

please contact your Strategic Account Director, or one of our representatives. 


Experian Australia Pty Ltd 

Melbourne Office 

Level 6, 549 St Kilda Road 

Melbourne VIC 3004 

Phone : (61) 3 8622 1600 

Fax: (61) 3 9600 4676 

Sydney Office 

Level 20, 100 Miller Street 

North Sydney NSW 2060 

Phone: (61) 2 8907 7200 

Fax: (61) 2 8907 7298 

E: info@au.experian.com 

For further information please visit www.experian.com.au 

About Experian 

We are the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to our clients 

around the world. We help businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and 

automate decision making. We also help people to check their credit report and credit score, and protect 

against identity theft. In 2014, we were named by Forbes magazine as one of the ‘World’s Most Innovative 

Companies’. 

We employ approximately 17,000 people in 39 countries and our corporate headquarters are in Dublin, 

Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil. 

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. 

Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2015, was US$4.8 billion. 

To find out more about our company, please visit http://www.experianplc.com or visit our local websites 

www.experian.com.au or www.experian.com.nz. 

© Experian 2015. 

The word “EXPERIAN” and the graphical device are trade marks of Experian and/or its associated companies and may 

be registered in the EU, USA and other countries. The graphical device is a registered Community design in the EU. 

All rights reserved.

EVOLUTION OF BANKING

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