'Technical issues' see ANZ internet banking go offline

ANZ has confirmed its internet banking website has been taken offline as it works to resolve "some technical issues" it has been experiencing since Monday morning.

"We would like to apologise for the inconvenience this is causing and assure our customers we are working hard to get internet banking back up and running as soon as possible," an ANZ spokesperson told ZDNet.

The problems come days after ANZ launched a revamped version of its internet banking platform to give customers a consistent user experience across desktop, tablet, and mobile.

The upgrade platform now enables businesses to approve payments on-the-go using mobile internet banking; allows users to choose either to view their accounts in a grid format or as a list; and features a simplified navigation menu to help customers update contact details, pay a bill, or open a new account.

As part of the launch, the bank also introduced ANZ Shield, which has been designed to authenticate transactions using a one-time security code when customers want to increase their pay anyone limits or reset their password.

In Australia, the company currently has 2.1 million internet banking customers.

The ANZ spokesperson has also assured that its goMoney, ATMs, Eftpos terminals, and all branch systems continue to operate as normal.

The internet banking upgrade formed part of the company's AU$1.5 billion five-year customer-facing Banking on Australia program, which was launched in October 2012 to transform the way the bank does business.

Since the end of last year, ANZ has been pushing to fast-track digital change when CEO Mike Smith outlined that it was a key objective for the group.

"At ANZ, I want us to fast track the change to a digital culture," he said. "We need to embrace the change in customer behaviour that technology brings, and to make sure we are offering the best possible digital services.

"We need to adapt to the widespread disruption of traditional business models, and make sure we are helping our clients thrive in these exciting but challenging times."

The company further signalled its commitment to the digital push when it recruited people from Twitter, Dimension Data, and former employees of PayPal and Procter & Gamble to establish a technology panel to help with the bank's digital transformation.

It also secured a five-year AU$450 million partnership with IBM to deploy the Big Blue's content management, data, analytics, and cloud software. ANZ said at the time it would support its ongoing core banking and infrastructure needs.

ANZ revealed during its 2015 full year results that total technology expenses increased by AU$196 million from the AU$1.3 billion reported last year to AU$1.5 billion this year. ANZ attributed part of the increase to the increased depreciation and amortisation on key infrastructure projects, higher data storage, software licence costs, and increased use of outsourced and managed services.