Westpac takes 'app challenge' to UK

Business

Westpac NZ offers Brits cash and a NZ holiday in exchange for mobile and web banking app ideas

4th Dec 13, 10:45am by Gareth Vaughan

<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/">Image sourced from Shutterstock.com</a>

Fresh from running a crowdsourced "app challenge" in its home market, Westpac NZ is now taking the concept to Britain offering Brits the incentives of cash and a New Zealand holiday in a competition designed to find the bank new mobile and web banking apps.

Westpac says it's asking British based developers and designers to draw on their experience as bank customers and isolate a service or process that could be done easier and faster using a mobile or web app.

The winner will get $20,000, a contribution of up to $20,000 towards a New Zealand "adventure" holiday, and their concept will be brought to market with a $60,000 development fund.

The winner will keep intellectual property rights to the completed app and be able to commercialise it outside New Zealand and Australia.

“The United Kingdom is a well regarded hub for digital and mobile innovation and we would like to tap into that expertise,” said Westpac's head of digital Simon Pomeroy.

The Westpac "Global App Challenge – UK" competition comes after the bank recently unveiled three winners of its New Zealand "app challenge" competition.

Each of these winners gets $10,000. Westpac says two of those apps should be available shortly.

Westpac plans to choose a short list of at least seven in its UK challenge, with each then tasked with giving a 15 minute presentation on their concept to a panel of judges via video-conference. The winner will then be chosen from the presentations.

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7 Comments

by Henry_Tull | 4th Dec 13, 12:51pm 1386114696

could the heading be?

Bank clueless, asks people on other side of the world what its customers in NZ want.

by Grant A | 4th Dec 13, 1:08pm 1386115735

Your right Henry, they're dumb, they should have just come to you for all the good ideas...from what I've read its already put that offer out to NZers some time ago and got a number of good ideas back thats its now developing, indeed got those individuals in working for them to do that. ..shameful that they've felt they've had to cast the net even wider when NZers have every good idea thought of in the world.

by Henry_Tull | 4th Dec 13, 1:51pm 1386118314

Its not about the mechanics of technology, or getting poor saps to give away their ideas in return for working for the man...

Its KYC
Bankers should Know Your Client...

We know its a stunt dreamt up by the stunt / marketing dept...

by Grant A | 4th Dec 13, 2:22pm 1386120155

We didn't invent the car, or the computer or......either Henry. Someone else did and NZ adapt it, if needed, to its market. The day my corporate service provider doesn't look further than the end of their nose, doesn't go looking for world's best practice, or really good new ideas that they can adapt for me and my market, is the day I change service providers. I wouldnt care if its a stunt, as what do I lose, but if its the way they operate, and who for sure can say that about Westpac in this instance, then that's who I'd want to deal with, rather being sarcastic about it with zero knowledge of the truth

by Henry_Tull | 5th Dec 13, 1:05am 1386158710

you're thinking of the bank as a corporate service provider, no?

world's best practice, we assume you are not thinking of the core systems?

news Four years after it first started talking about migrating its core banking platform to Celeriti, the next generation of CSC’s Hogan system, and five years after it acquired St George, which already uses Hogan, top-tier bank Westpac has finally confirmed imminent plans to start taking action on the issue.

Four years ago, in the wake of the bank’s 2008 acquisition of independent company St George, Westpac first began discussing the possibility of migrating its ageing core banking platform to Celeriti, the new generation of CSC’s Hogan banking platform.

At the time, the move made complete sense. Hogan was already seen as being more modern and flexible than Westpac’s existing platform. With the St George acquisition, Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly would be reunited with many of the technical leaders who had implemented the Hogan upgrade at St George to start with — Kelly having formerly led St George as its chief executive. Merging the two platforms would get the two banks on a common underlying IT platform.

http://delimiter.com.au/2013/11/04/four-years-later-westpac-will-finall…

Westpac Group has 3 key customer facing divisions serving around 12 million customers:

Australian Financial Services (AFS) encompasses our retail and business banking operations in Australia and includes the businesses of Westpac Retail & Business Banking, St.George Banking Group and BT Financial Group. It also encompasses Banking Products and Risk Management.
- Westpac Retail & Business Banking (Westpac RBB) is responsible for sales and customer service of our consumer, small-to-medium enterprise customers, commercial and agribusiness customers (typically with turnover of up to $100 million) in Australia under the Westpac brand;
- St.George Banking Group is responsible for sales and service for consumer, business and corporate customers in Australia under the St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA and RAMS brands;
- BT Financial Group Australia (BTFG) is Westpac’s wealth and insurance business. BTFG’s brands include Advance Asset Management, Ascalon, Asgard, BT, BT Investment management (63% owned by the Westpac Group), Licensee Select, BT Select and Securitor. BTFG is also responsible for and the advice, private banking and insurance operations across all our brands;
Westpac Institutional Bank (WIB) delivers a broad range of financial services to commercial, corporate, institutional and government customers with connections to Australia and New Zealand. Customers are supported through branches and subsidiaries located in Australia, New Zealand, US, UK and Asia; and
New Zealand Banking is responsible for sales and service of banking, wealth, and insurance products for consumer, business and institutional customers in New Zealand. Banking products are provided under the Westpac brand, while insurance and wealth products are provided under Westpac Life and BT brands.

http://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/westpac-group/company-overview/…

apps we suggest are more a distraction and not the path to world's best practice......

and if they were not driving the IT strategy and innovation capability inhouse would seem less than first best..

by cowboy | 5th Dec 13, 6:33am 1386178434

Young and upcoming market and executives like flashy gadgets.

Sadly like it or not, the GenY is going to be a growing numbers of decision-makers in established businesses. And they WILL put their crazy ass ideas forward because schools and others never taught them the importance of analytic/critical thinking.

by Grant A | 5th Dec 13, 9:05am 1386187503

With due respect Henry, totally irrelevant to what I commented upon in respect to your one comment. Quoting me anything about one corporate in particular , and in this case needing to quote many paragraphs about westpac's core systems, is missing a point...they may well have core systems that need an overhaul, what's that got to do with it ?

Corporates, indeed most businesses, should be looking for self improvement (front line or core systems, indeed in most areas of their business) and to look for best practice overseas and adapt it to their market is pretty basic. That's wasn't what you were I indicating in your one sentence comment, and that was all I was responding to. Others may agree with you, I don't.