Westpac Commences a Technology Overhaul to Upgrade Its Systems

Australian bank Westpac is planning to spend billions of dollars over four years to upgrade its technological infrastructure.

The bank has been dealing with years of slow technological infrastructure. In its planned overhaul, the bank plans to bring all its brands under a single platform. It is also planning to decommission 120 systems that are part of its Unite strategy.

The chief information officer at Westpac, Scott Collary, opined that the initiative would get rid of the costs and risks that have plagued the bank over the last 15 years.

Westpac to Upgrade Its Technology

Westpac is planning to allocate 30% of its annual budget towards this technology upgrade. This budget is set to be between $AUD 1.8 billion and $AUD 2 billion over the next four years.

The initiative to upgrade its banking technology is known as Project Unite. The initiative will include 85 different technology projects that have been created to reverse a decade of the bank underinvesting in the technology industry.

The objective behind the technology overhaul is to streamline the bank’s processes. It plans to reduce duplication in banking transactions. It is also planning to reduce the number of systems by two-thirds. Once the overhaul is complete, the number of systems will drop from 180 to 60.

The Chief Executive at Westpac, Peter King, opined that the bank had more technology than was needed. Therefore, the executive wanted to time this upgrade optimally because the bank had finalized the sale of its non-core businesses and conducted an intense risk management upgrade.

Westpac has also been working on a way to simplify its technology processes to give customers seamless experiences. The plans to conduct the technology upgrade show that the bank is accelerating its efforts towards meeting this objective.

Technology Overhaul Is Already Underway

The Chief Information Officer at Westpac, Scott Collary, opined that several projects at the bank had already started streamlining their processes. These projects were reducing the number of customer onboarding systems. They were also consolidating their communication networks to make customer experiences better.

Westpac is working on improving customer outcomes in 2024. It plans to achieve this by making things simple for bankers. It is also planning to trim costs by improving upon the technology systems that are already in place instead of replacing the core banking systems.

The lack of superior technology systems has often put the bank at loggerheads with regulators. In September last year, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) filed charges against Westpac over its failure to respond to over 200 hardship requests. According to analysts, this failure was caused by old technology systems still used by the bank.

Westpac has also failed to integrate the processes of regional brands like St George, BankSA, and Bank of Melbourne, with plans to maintain separate systems. It plans to integrate all these systems into one under the new Unite project.