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Finance

ANZ banks on major tech investment

The bank has rolled out a swathe of technology initiatives, including in-branch video conferencing and a NFC contactless payment trial on Android phones, to improve customer experience.
Written by Spandas Lui, Contributor

ANZ Bank has launched its AU$1.5 billion Banking on Australia program, which will see the bank invest heavily in customer-facing technology.

The program will spread across the next five years. It will not only involve refurbishments of its retail shopfronts, but a rollout of Cisco video conferencing kits at 43 of its branches in remote locations, so that customers will have access to specialist advice. The program will be funded from ANZ's existing investment plan.

ANZ has also launched two mobile apps, one of which allows same-day processing of credit card and debit card transactions on the iPhone or iPad, while the other, called ANZ Transactive for Mobile, allows businesses to quickly approve large payments on the go. The bank has also introduced video chat on its website.

Following in the footsteps of Westpac, ANZ is trialling NFC technology for payments on Android phones, albeit on a smaller scale.

"A trial of an ANZ mobile wallet will kick off today," ANZ CEO Philip Chronican said in a statement. "This will see 25 of our staff, including me, live testing our solution, with the aim to make it available to customers in mid-2013."

ANZ also announced the implementation of 800 NCR ATMs, to allow customers to have access to banking functions traditionally performed in-branch, such as providing instant value for cash or cheque deposits.

"We know our customers prefer to do their day-to-day in their own time, either online or by using mobile devices, so our task is to respond to this change by embracing the online and digital challenge, and enable our customers to bank with us on their own terms," Chronican said.

 

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