CIO OPINION
Retail banks are looking at two ways to alleviate these pain points and to meet customers ’ rising expectations of digital banking services .
John DesJardins , Chief Technology Officer , Hazelcast
Customers driving Australia ’ s retail banks to reshape digital offerings
John DesJardins , Chief Technology Officer , Hazelcast , tells us the past year has exposed lingering structural pain points in Australia ’ s banking sector that need to be addressed .
Australia ’ s retail banks have played a central role in enabling the economy to function and customers to continue transacting despite the challenges of the past year-and-a-half . The responsiveness and reliability of their systems , and the agility of their decision-making , have all been tested .
Uptime has never been more important , with regulatory overseers taking a specific interest , knowing the economic and practical consequences of downtime in a world where almost everyone is transacting online and digitally .
Payments are increasingly digital , performed without contact and processed in as close to real-time as possible . With many customers under financial strain , banks have had to enact hardship provisions on multiple occasions . Snap lockdowns mean the banks need to be responsive to a changing environment and to customers ’ evolving needs .
That translates into a need to make better decisions at pace and at scale . The more that retail banks can do this in real-time , the better they ’ re able to triage and manage high volumes of support requests and offer smarter , more tailored solutions .
Technology has already played a crucial role in enabling retail banks to fulfill their obligations and launch new digital services , but there is more to do . A PwC Australia Survey found banking customers now have ‘ elevated expectations around fast and seamless experiences .’
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