Westpac said today in an update on its transformation and integration with acquisition St George that it would transition to the "next generation of Hogan" as its deposits platform.
(Credit: Suzanne Tindal/ZDNet.com.au)
"We've now decided to move with the Hogan platform as our transactions and savings platform and we now have a delivery pathway for Hogan over the next few years," said Brad Cooper, who until today was Westpac's chief transformation officer. He has been promoted to chief executive of BT Financial.
Hogan is currently being used within Westpac-acquired St George. There had been speculation that Westpac was going to adopt the system, as reported by ZDNet.com.au earlier this year.
When queried in May about the possible move, the bank said that it was conducting "deeper feasibility studies" on the matter. Now the choice has been made.
The use of this system fits with the bank's decision to use systems already within itself or St George where it suited. It also decided to move to St George's customer relationship management system, its human resources system and its teller system.
"We are going to continue to reuse applications and platforms where it makes sense to, because obviously that lowers our execution risk," Cooper said. When the bank needed new capability, such as an internet banking platform, the bank would invest in new systems, he added.
"I think the opportunity we've got in reuse ... is that they are applications and platforms that are already in use and we have people who are knowledgeable of those," he said. "It's not without its challenges but I think we have the right resources applied to it to get it done."
The first phase of Westpac's transformation has now been completed, according to Westpac's CEO Gail Kelly also speaking today. This phase had a strong focus on integration with St George and forming a strategy for technology over the next five years.
The bank still has $203 million from its $349 million total to spend on its IT integration with St George. As yet, it has spent $146 million on projects such as the consolidation of both banks onto one general ledger, treasury and payroll systems.
Cooper said the bank had improved its system stability significantly, with the number of disruptive incidents down 75 per cent while the time to fix incidents which did occur improved by over 50 per cent.
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The last year has also seen the bank install 12,700 PCs, 12,200 new teller keyboards and pinboards, and upgraded its network bandwidth, doubling its capacity.
The second phase is about delivery and strategic investment in technology.
On the cards is a datacentre consolidation, a plan to "optimise strategic supplier relationships", launching a new internet banking platform, implementing a new operations desktop and a new payment system, consolidating the cards platform for St George and Westpac, consolidation of the banks' core wealth platforms, as well as carrying out the transformation of secure lending platforms and processes.
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