CIOs reveal top bank trends

Mobility, security and outsourcing top the list of technology priorities in the finance sector, according to a panel of IT leaders from ANZ, CBA and Greater Building society, reports CIO.

Panellists including executive GM of the Commonwealth Bank, David Curran, CIO of the Greater Building Society, Bruce White, ANZ CIO, Anne Weatherston, and KPMG partner, Mark Chimes, spoke about the challenges and changes confronting their sector at a recent Sydney seminar.

Weatherston said mobility would be extremely relevant to the next generation of bankers, with the younger group expecting banking to be available on their mobiles. Curran agreed: “It's not really about technology, it's about meeting the needs of customers through the technology,” he said.

The Co-operative Bank has partnered with identity management firm GB Group to supply anti-fraud technologies to local authorities and other public sector organisations, states CIO UK.

The main technology to be rolled out will be GB's identity verification solution URU, which local authorities can use to verify citizens' IDs. The solution uses GB's ID3 technology to match information input through URU against independent data sources, including address records, birth and death registers and financial information.

According to the Co-operative Bank, part of the Co-operative Group, the technology will help to tackle local issues such as benefit, recruitment and housing tenancy fraud.

The banking and financial landscape has changed unreservedly over the past 18 months, and for the banks that did survive, the pressure to cut costs further and drive through efficiencies is more intense than ever, writes Business Review Europe.

For this reason, it's important for the sector to understand which technology options do not require significant capital investment, but will deliver real benefits in terms of cost savings and efficiencies.

Gartner forecast that worldwide IT services funding will see a 4.5% increase from 2009, with managed services set to be a strong recipient of this increase. The firm reports the prospect of greater economic stability will likely drive an uneven pace of advancement by vertical market. So far in 2010, IT spend in financial services has seen the most dramatic increase of any sector compared with 2009 IT budgets.