In yet another sign of Australian banks leveraging the power of technology, Macquarie bank is doubling down on its digital strategy and investments to deliver better business outcomes.
The year gone by was a horrendous period for the big banks, thanks to the scathing remarks and findings by the Banking Royal Commission. Macquarie Bank seems to be an exception though – the Banking Royal Commission had no specific findings against Macquarie Bank.
However, the bank’s H1FY20 results indicate investment in regulatory reporting has increased by a whopping 50%. Leading Financial Institution Suncorp also announced an investment in technology for regulatory projects has risen to lead to increased operating expenses
Macquarie group’s latest results indicate healthy growth and focus on tech spending. Growing with “satisfactory conditions across the group”, Macquarie bank stated its tech strategy is focused on customer experience (CX) while targeting 100% on the cloud by FY 22
Macquarie Bank isn’t the only bank with a “100% on cloud” strategy. Although there are differences in the cloud strategies of leading banks, it’s worth noting NAB is on track to achieve 100% on the cloud as part of the overall tech transformation strategy, so does CBA.
Also read: Digital Strategy of NAB
While Macquarie bank has rebuilt its tech stack with a single core banking system for lending and retail, the focus continues to be on client journeys and of course Customer experience.
A customer 360 deg view will no doubt come in handy and the tech folks at Macquarie bank haven’t lost track of this important piece of the puzzle. Embedding Human-centric design to map banking experience, Macquarie bank says it is building products and services leveraging client insights.
We know we will be disrupted – as well a lot of our clients. We need to benefit from technology, rather than become a victim
Greg Ward, Group Head of Banking and Financial Services
Human-Centric Design
Pratham Karkal, Head of Direct Banking and Financial services says the starting point of any opportunity or problem (resolution) is “understanding clients’ experience with us. So human-centric design is embedded in the way Macquarie BFS operates”. Mr Karkal highlighted the reduction in time taken to assess and approve home loan applications as a good example of Human-Centric Design in action
NPS Benchmark – Measure and Learn
Macquarie Bank is proactively measuring NPS – at specific points. It’s not clear what those specific points are and why only at those points. There are questions about the validity of NPS as the benchmark to evaluate customer delight and client advocacy. That hasn’t stopped Macquarie or other leading banks to track NPS. Suncorp also revealed it is tracking NPS to measure client advocacy and customer experience even as executive remunerations are tied to NPS (about 20%).
We are listening to our clients, we are learning and acting off the back of that to ensure we deliver consistently great customer expectations
Katie Moran, Head of Client Insights
Client journeys continue to be a critical part of customer experience improvement program and Macquarie bank revealed mapping 15 customer journeys embedding elements of Human-Centred Design.
Robots Are Coming
Although the application of RPA technologies isn’t new, the momentum is gaining and Macquarie bank isn’t sitting on the fence. By deploying “a fleet of robots” Macquarie has targeted efficiency gains while reducing human risks. It is not yet clear how many robots have been deployed or what areas of the bank’s work processes are being automated. It is no longer a question of why RPA, it’s about how, how many and sustainable maintenance of the RPA model.
More to come
