22 April 2020
Australian Military Bank honoured as global winner of Celent Co-operative Bank Transformation Award 2020
Australian Military Bank this week received prestigious global recognition from an international co-hort of nominees to be awarded the 2020 award for Co-operative Bank Transformation in an online presentation ceremony hosted in New York.
The award follows an aggressive 10-month implementation of a complete big bank tech stack replacement that concluded in early 2019 and included the entire core legacy banking operation.
The bank has since transitioned to a software as a service solution utilising open APIs which offer the bank agile connectivity with its partner ecosystem.
The new operating model and reduced operating costs have contributed strong financial performance for the bank as evidenced in its first half year results following transition.
In addition to enhanced operational and financial performance the bank has competitively positioned itself against traditional and NEO bank competitors. The transformation recognises the new reality of retail banking delivery and has provided a platform that has allowed for a reduced branch footprint as well as the sun-setting of telephone banking.
As the bank has a globally deployed 24/7 membership serving in the Australian Defence Force it recognised its membership was best served by an agile digital bank.
According to CEO Darlene Mattiske-Wood, “This was an ambitious program that obviously needed to include disciplined delivery with a clearly defined set of ambitions for the digital transformation that has paid off for the Bank”.
In the first six months following transformation the bank gained a multitude of new operational benefits and cost efficiencies, along with enhanced security and scalability.
The bank has been processing on average of 44,000 mixed transactions per day, along with 22,000 card transactions and close to 7,000 composite payments transactions. The new system has enabled a heavy increase in new loan origination and the bank has increased its account portfolio by 20% since the project concluded. Straight-through processing for savings, transactions and deposit accounts, with 99% of inbound direct payments now processed straight through, resulting in fewer cash transactions occurring. A biometric authentication system has greatly improved security for its members.
Multiple new products (e.g., Green loans, low-rate products) were launched in the last year using the scalable easy to use solution with very little lead time.
Australian Military Bank now has an out-of-the-box capability for easy reporting to regulatory bodies like APRA. It can quickly adopt new regulatory changes and keep pace with additional changes as they are imposed. The bank has also implemented numerous rate changes, new product launches, and adopted new credit card regulations seamlessly.
In February Australian Military Bank’s new CEO, Darlene Mattiske-Wood stepped into the transformed operation following 15 years senior leadership experience in the mutual banking sector. “My decision to join Australian Military Bank was in part attributable to the bank’s agile positioning resulting from this strategic transformation. I felt there was means to reliably innovate and deliver competitive features and value to members. This bank is in a state of readiness to offer members the best that the banking sector has to offer”.
