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St George promotes IT chiefs

St George today revealed it had undertaken a minor re-shuffle within its IT management ranks last year, following its acquisition by larger bank Westpac.
Written by Renai LeMay, Contributor

St George today revealed it had undertaken a minor re-shuffle within its IT management ranks last year, following its acquisition by larger bank Westpac.

In November the bank announced its group executive, technology and operations Paul Newham, who had only been in the position since May, would shift to a new role within Westpac's hierarchy, as the bank's chief operating officer for products and operations.

What wasn't announced, however, was the creation of two new chief information officer roles, to be filled by newly promoted St George executives Phil Soutter (formerly general manager of IT production) and Dhiren Kulkarni (formerly general manager of application development).

The joint CIOs report directly to St George's new chief executive, Greg Bartlett, who was appointed in December, rather than Westpac's new chief information officer Bob McKinnon. A St George spokesperson this morning said the pair divided up their responsibilities along hardware/software lines, more or less in line with their previous posts.

Most of the spotlight since the Westpac acquisition has been on the bigger bank's technology integration plans, which will require significant input from former CommBank CIO McKinnon, as well as a number of senior staffers he has brought into the bank, such as former CBA colleague Sarv Girn, now Westpac's chief technology officer.

However, the bank's broader integration effort will be led by group executive Brad Cooper.

The St George news comes as the bank also this morning launched its latest fusillade in the ongoing internet banking war. St George customers will now be able to access key internet banking features such as account details, transfers and BPAY payments from their Apple iPhone or iPod Touch.

The service is to be made available over the coming months and comes on the heels of a similar announcement by CommBank yesterday.

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