NAB edges to 'computer says yes'

Beverley Head
Thursday, 06 May 2010 17:11

Business IT - Networking

Technology allowing NAB's wholesale bank employees to collaborate with one another around the world using collaboration tools and videoconferencing paid for itself in less than three months, leaving the bank poised to offer a range of video based services to customers.

Speaking at the Cisco-Tandberg Visual Collaboration Summit in Sydney today, the wholesale bank's chief technology officer, Thor Essman, said that in the future the bank might install 40 inch LCD monitors in key branches so that customers based outside metropolitan areas could speak to specialist bankers via videoconference. According to Essman; 'It will be a differentiator for us.'

 

Asked what sort of a competitive edge the bank had on its three main rivals - CBA, ANZ and Westpac - Essman declined to speculate. He said they could catch up as 'none of this is rocket science.'

Nevertheless he believed there was a competitive advantage. 'The four big banks are chasing a very tight market, and we do whatever we can to differentiate.

'We are creating a brand new channel to come out to customers. This has been a two year programme ... the next chapter is turning the external lights on.'

Essman said the wholesale bank employed 3,000-3,500 people, a third of whom worked in technology. He said that the bank had been looking to revamp the way it operated internally and also linked to partners and customers, and had been working on a Collaborative Workspace Project for a number of years.

The installation of videoconferencing in bank branches was now a 'future possible' according to Essman, who said that the bank was working to 'federate' its IT systems with those of customers and partners. 'Say a Dubbo farmer wants to buy futures. He can go into a branch and see the product specialist on a 40 inch screen.'

The NAB is also exploring how to make more use of telepresence in its large branches. 'Say we have a large scale pitch in Dubai. Do we want to send a team of 20?' mused Essman, or would telepresence prove more effective?