Financial Services

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has confirmed a partnership deal with VMware and business app developer Digital Asset to expand the ASX's blockchain capabilities, beginning with a promised overhaul of its longstanding core equities settlement system, CHESS.
 

Mishandling of personal data by staff and customers remains the number one cause of cyber breach incidents within Australia, with the latest figures from the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme report revealing the rate of data loss incidents has worsened over the six months to June.
 

MetLife Australia has announced the appointment of a new head of customer experience, with CX veteran Lina Saliba to take on the role.
 

Deloitte has offered its clients a virtual gaze into blockchain in action, announcing the development of its self-dubbed "Blockchain in a Box" (BIAB), which provides tangible demonstrations and experimentations for blockchain-based systems.
 

Kiwibank chief Steve Jurkovich has offered a frank assessment of financial service’s laggard approach to digital innovation, expressing dismay at the lack of progress made in advancing the internet banking experience over the last two decades, with FSI’s online offerings trailing far behind digital service pioneers of bigtech.
 

Digital-only neobank Xinja has announced the appointment of John Pountain as its first chief technology officer.
 

CBA-owned Bankwest has unveiled the latest in its digital toolkit for customers, announcing the launch of a new e-signature facility for home loan applicants.
 

TradeWindow, an Auckland-based tech developer, has announced it will receive financial backing from ASB to fast-track the development of its blockchain trading platform.
 

Rates of domestic payment card fraud decreased for the first time in Australia, while growth of card-not-present (CNP) fraud fell drastically over the 2018 calendar year, according to the latest figures from the Australian Payments Network (AusPayNet).
 

The Commonwealth Bank has released the latest major update to its industry-leading mobile banking app, touted by the bank's retail banking services chief Angus Sullivan as the “most individually tailored and sophisticated adaptation of digital banking in Australia".
 

July saw a number of high-profile appointments and departures across the financial services sector, with noteworthy additions to NAB, nib, and the Bank of Queensland.
 

New Zealand's TSB Bank has gone live with its newly overhauled customer acquisition and on-boarding system, expected to slash account application times and offer a range of self-service options to prospective customers.
 

Australian insurance giant IAG has announced the release of a new in-house app allowing contact centre staff to allocate and adjust work hours and rosters, with early results showing a noticeable reduction in sick leave and an increase in employee engagement.
 

Despite the massive investment in digital transformation, fewer than 25 per cent of consumers have reported any significant improvement in the experiences offered to them by financial institutions globally. Nevertheless, despite the overall lacklustre response by consumers, Asia-Pacific organisations are proving far more effective than other regions of the world, a report the Financial Brand reveals.
 

APRA has been urged to uplift its IT risk and cyber assessment capabilities, with the Federal Government’s Capability Review revealing that chronic under-resourcing has hampered the prudential regulator's ability to manage digital disruption and increasing cyber threats facing the financial services industry.