(7 February 2005 – Australia) National Australia Bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank have pooled their funds to set up a cheque processing utility.The three banks have outsourced the contract, worth more than A$600 million over 12 years, to US based Fiserv.
Fiserv begins its services in April this year and will supply Day One cheque processing and image archives services to the banks.
NAB regional manager of Operations Mark Steyn said the bank needed to reinvest in its cheque processing capabilities in a market which is declining at about five percent each year.
“By entering into the utility we have been able to avoid the cost of that investment while ensuring that all our staff have been offered jobs and that our high customer service levels are maintained,” he said.
NAB said all employees currently working in the cheque processing area would be offered positions with Fiserv.