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Commonwealth Bank is piloting a free cloud based storage system for its customers – called NetBank Vault – which will allow customers to store important digital documents online.

While the bank’s branding its service as an online vault – it looks and smells a lot like the digital mailbox services announced in March by Digital Post Australia (a joint venture forged by Computershare, Salmat and Zumbox) and Australia Post. But while those services are free to all, users of NetBank Vault have to be users of Commonwealth’s NetBank online banking services.

Trialled this month through CBA’s My NetBank Labs site, the service is offered as an opt-in for customers, and is free. The bank isn’t saying exactly how much storage customers might be allocated, but indicates customers might be able to store up 1,000 files in their vault.

The bank however warned that at least at the trial phase it’s not taking any responsibility for lost or corrupted files, so customers need to keep their own copy as well.

NetBank Vault was one of a series of innovations flagged at a technology update held by the bank in Sydney today. With the completion of its core bank revamp now in its sights, the bank is keen to remind the marketplace of the sorts of innovation that real time core banking platform allows.

The last 45,000 Commonwealth Bank accounts will be transitioned onto the new core banking platform in July according to Dave Curran, CBA’s self-described “plumber” and programme director of the core revamp. Eleven million accounts have already been migrated to the new core platform, with the project scheduled for completion in December.

Asked what would happen to the 1,000 strong IT team which has been working on the core programme, Mr Curran said that a portfolio of new IT programmes was in planning which would soak up some of the skills, while other people would move back into the business. “We are not planning a massive reduction,” he said.

In addition according to CBA chief information officer Michael Harte, CBA’s New Zealand bank ASB, and BankWest will transition to the new core platform in 2013, and 2014 respectively. Mr Harte said some CBA core banking staff were likely to be deployed onto those programmes.

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Beverley Head

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Beverley Head is a Sydney-based freelance writer who specialises in exploring how and why technology changes everything - society, business, government, education, health. Beverley started writing about the business of technology in London in 1983 before moving to Australia in 1986. She was the technology editor of the Financial Review for almost a decade, and then became the newspaper's features editor before embarking on a freelance career, during which time she has written on a broad array of technology related topics for the Sydney Morning Herald, Age, Boss, BRW, Banking Day, Campus Review, Education Review, Insite and Government Technology Review. Beverley holds a degree in Metallurgy and the Science of Materials from Oxford University and a deep affection for things which are shaken not stirred.

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