Financial services organisations face the prospect of paying for the data they already have today and purchasing it from disruptors such as Apple and Google, according to Deane Johns, Chief Information Officer at NZ Association of Credit Unions.

Participating in FST Media’s C-Level panel at the annual New Zealand banking conference in Auckland, Johns linked the importance of data to the ongoing technology disruption debate in the financial services industry.

“Disruptors are coming into the payments space. At the moment we have a wealth of information around what people are doing and how they are spending. But if it gets to the state where we just see three people on our payments list, which is Paypal, Apple and Google, we do not know what people are doing anymore.”

The panel agreed that banks have the advantage because of existing trust already developed with customers, with the success of data resting on relationships and not only technology.

Westpac NZ Chief Information Officer, Jason Millett, said that it is people and processes that allow organisations to operationalise their data, and make the conversations staff are having with customers effective. “When you think about having that data available you cannot just think about the technology, it has to be about the people and process, that then allows you to operationalise it,” he said.

However, the data needs to be used in an efficient and effective way, according to Craig Sims, COO, ANZ.  “The industry sits on a lot of data, how you use the data to get close to customers and allow the sales force to direct the customers in a meaningful way is important,” he said.

Kevin Angland, Chief Information Officer at IAG agreed that using the data correctly is paramount. “If I look at our business going forward, data, and the use of that data is important, as is your ability to capture the right data and use it appropriately and at the right time.”