ANZ NSW Govt provider appointment & exec change announcements
(13 December 2018 - Australia) ANZ has announced it has been appointed as one of two providers of core-banking services for the NSW State Government delivering services across cash management, payments, merchant acquiring and cross-border banking requirements from 1 April, 2019.
These services will be divided between ANZ and Westpac, the incumbent bank. The major announcement sees the NSW Government break up its significant transaction banking contract held for several years by Westpac to include Melbourne-headquartered ANZ, as well as allocating card payments to Citibank in an effort to digitise it’s large and growing cash management operations. ANZ Group Executive Institutional, Mark Whelan, said: “We’re very proud to be partnering with the NSW government as it looks to transform the way frontline services are delivered to its citizens. This partnership goes beyond a traditional banking relationship and reflects our strong alignment on both innovation and community purpose, as well as our commitment to delivering seamless payment experiences to the people and businesses of NSW.”
ANZ has also been named as an innovation partner to the NSW Government, a partnership which will leverage the bank’s market-leading capability and experience in data analytics, agile ways of working, human-centred design, digital and payments. ANZ Group Executive Digital Banking, Maile Carnegie, said: “Like banks, governments are facing changing expectations from their citizens and need to respond in a way that’s intuitive, flexible and innovative. The NSW Government is progressive in its thinking and we’re confident this partnership will draw upon our experience and expertise in digital banking and transformations to help drive that vision for the future.” The much anticipated deal will set off a raft of consolidation and automation across the state’s bureaucracy, as the central agency seeks to extract greater functionality and efficiency from its financial services providers. ANZ’s new contact, which has a heavy digital skew, is for an initial three years with an extension clause for another three years. The NSW government itself has appointed Westpac executive Mark Lenzner as its new IT procurement chief. Lenzner will take over from Shae Howard, who has been acting in the position since Tony Richie left to become the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation’s (DFSI) new chief information officer. Bids for the deal were announced in 2017 however the move to select ANZ is notable given CBA had been heavily promoting its digital first mover advantage. Both the CBA and Westpac are in the process of changing CIO’s, whereas ANZ shares a broadly similar core banking system with Westpac in the form of Hogan. CBA was a front runner as the new transaction bank for NSW given its strong roll out of in Transport for NSW’s Opal transit ticketing product, Sydney headquarters and significant investment in systems modernisation.
ANZ Australia Group has announced that Executive Fred Ohlsson will step down from his current role to take an extended unpaid career break after 17 years of service with the bank. ANZ also announced that Mark Hand, Group Executive, Business and Private Banking, has been appointed acting Group Executive, Australia, while the bank considers the “best structure for the Australia division”. Mr Ohlsson will assist with the hand-over in January. Mr Ohlsson served for five years as managing director, retail and business banking in New Zealand. Commenting on the announcement, ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott said: “Fred approached me saying that he and his wife feel that their children are at an ideal age to spend some time living in Sweden. While I’m disappointed Fred will be leaving, I respect his decision to put his family first and take an extended break. Fred is a valued colleague and can be proud of the significant contribution he has made to ANZ over many years. He has put in place a strong and diverse leadership team, and we are fortunate to have an experienced retail and commercial banker in Mark Hand to lead our Australia division. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to take a career break. My children are of an age where we can go back to Sweden for an extended period and both my wife and I feel we owe them that opportunity.” Mr Ohlsson’s interim replacement, Mark Hand, joined ANZ in 1988 and has held senior roles across business and retail banking, credit management and internal audit in Australia and South Asia. Mr Hand has been group executive, business and private banking, since May 2018, having previously held senior roles in ANZ’s Australia division. The changes are effective 29 December, subject to regulatory requirements.