Suncorp pours $275m into IT simplification

Banking giant Suncorp has today announced plans to pour $275 million into a technology-simplification program that will rid the organisation of 14 different legacy platforms, and drive annualised savings of $200 million from 2016.

Costing Suncorp's latest technology program.
(Screenshot by Luke Hopewell/ZDNet Australia)

The simplification strategy will see the bank rid itself of 13 inefficient insurance policy legacy infrastructure platforms, while keeping one old platform and implementing one new platform. It will also consolidate licences, commence a staged overhaul of its core banking platform and improve its risk-management platform aimed at "moving the bank towards Advanced Basel Accreditation".

The $275 million for the simplification program will come out of the bank's operating budgets, and will deliver savings of up to $200 million per year, come 2016. Additional benefits include more intuitive systems for staff and customers, more reliable infrastructure and greater speed to market with new initiatives.

Snowball said that the simplification program would bear greater fruit beyond the multimillion-dollar cost savings.

"It will result in a modern and forward-looking organisation focused on high-quality services and value for money, built around an ability to efficiently service customers," he said.

The simplification plan is grown out of Suncorp's Building Blocks program that the bank says will start delivering $235 million in annual savings from June next year.

Snowball said that the Building Blocks program involved the implementation of a common insurance price engine across the bank's brands, more efficient procurement practices and the reduction of operating costs.

Suncorp's latest move to consolidate and simplify its IT comes after multiple business-rationalisation initiatives, including a move to virtualised infrastructure and introducing a single insurance claims platform across its subsidiary brands.