Australian Bank ANZ Looks to Alibaba, Google for Ideas, CEO Says
April 15 2015 - 11:09AM
Dow Jones News
[Dow Jones] Banks need to look beyond the walls of their own
industry if they want to beat the competition as technology rapidly
evolves, according to Australia & New Zealand Banking Group
(ANZ.AU) CEO Mike Smith. "For banks, it is not enough to say: 'I
have to look at what Westpac (WBC.AU) does or what HSBC (HSBC) does
or what Citi (C) does'," he says. "I have to work out what is
Alibaba (BABA) doing? What is Google (GOOG) doing? What is Amazon
(AMZN) doing? Because that customer experience that they are
creating, people are going to ask: 'Why you can't do that as a
bank?'" The biggest problem for banks, he says, is that they are
designed around an accounting system, rather than a
"customer-driven system." So the transition may be a big challenge.
"I think banks who get this right are really going to benefit
enormously," though, Mr. Smith says, "because then you can access
markets you couldn't before." (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; Twitter:
@RhiannonHoyle)
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