AMP Bank ready to compete in the fintech realm after cloud shift

“[Before the systems upgrade] we had some real scalability challenges as we were running in a legacy technology that was limiting our ability to be able to complete fundamental functions that would help us grow the bank.

“It has allowed us to strip out capabilities from the core to enable us to do change faster – particularly in the area of internal and external integration, so API (application programming interface) development means we can do partnerships like the one we recently announced with Nano.”

The Nano partnership refers to the digital origination of home loans, which AMP Bank is doing with Nano, a fintech start-up founded by former Westpac executives. It can approve loans in as little as 10 minutes.

Leveraging technology

Mr O’Malley said the work to migrate its core banking system into the cloud took about nine months to complete. It involved quite a lot of work but was much quicker than if it had tried to do it without renovating its core systems first.

Whereas in the not-too-distant past chief information officers and other tech executives had to jump through hoops to prove to their executive peers that technology initiatives were worth worrying about, Mr O’Malley is part of a small but growing breed of tech execs who have negated the problem by moving into chief executive roles.

“I absolutely think business leaders in totality need to understand the power and the opportunity of technology. I mean, we are a branchless digital bank, so understanding technology, and where the opportunities exist and where the pitfalls and the dangers are, is really important,” he said.

“Especially in banking and finance, I see the role of a business leader as working out how you leverage technology to drive your business to be able to provide new and better experiences for customers and partners like brokers.”

He said following the cloud transition, AMP was able to better make use of myriad data across the group to provide improved customer service, and that customers would also benefit from the robust security underpinning the AWS technology.

In a statement, AWS’s Australia and New Zealand managing director, Rianne Van Veldhuizen, said AMP was an important local client that it was proud to support on its tech modernisation.

“AMP Bank is driving innovation across its digital services and transforming customer experiences,” she said.