The best investment a business can make

The best investment a business can make is in its customers. With the customer experience firmly front of mind, according ANZ’s Head of TB Financial Institutions Michael Lim, you’re always heading in the right direction.

“As long as whatever you're doing actually flows through to a benefit for the customer, or solves a genuine problem for the customer or solves a problem for the industry, then your investment makes sense,” Lim said.

Speaking on podcast ahead of the annual Sibos conference in October, Lim said in a world where technology advancement is rapidly reshaping business, it was important not to get distracted by gadgets which might sound “cool”, but ultimately provide little customer value.

“That's the philosophy that we have at ANZ, when we think about investing, innovating and looking for scalable solutions that are going to actually solve customer real-world problems,” he said.

For companies in the financial services sector, investing in the Sibos annual financial services conference - to interact closely with customers, check the pulse of the broader industry and see how industry best-practice is developing so they can return and apply that directly to solutions - is time and effort well spent, Lim said.

The Sibos conversation also featured Jenny Hutchings, Head of Banks Transaction Banking Financial Institutions at ANZ and Bryan Stagg, Executive Director and Australia Head of Banks, Financial Institutions Group at ANZ. You can listen to an edited version of the conversation - the first in a series in the lead up to the event in October - below.

Commitment

Hutchings said attendance at Sibos was critical for maintaining ANZ’s commitment to its customers as it served as “a really important chance to bring a lot of conversations together”, particular as the pace of change quickens.

“Corresponding banking and trade has been a pretty traditional business over the last couple of decades,” she said. “Whether it’s real-time payments or innovation, [tech] has been a step change and it’s really exciting to see.”

Stagg said that consideration is what customers in the industry have come to expect.

“That’s what the customer wants,” he said. “That's what we deliver. And the Fimetrix [bank-to-bank] survey confirms to us that what we're doing is right.”

FImetrix is a bi-annual survey of major trading banks which has ranked ANZ number 1 in multiple customer satisfaction categories for 12 years in a row. Lim says the category the bank is most proud of is its performance in innovation.

“Innovation for us is about solving issues for our customers,” he said. “Delivering something that is practical and scalable for them. It's great to see that reflected in the survey results.”

Hutchings said an important factor was considering what customers wanted - and needed.

“There are banks that are quite traditional, but there are banks who are absolutely looking into the future, investing, putting the people, putting the money, putting the time into it as well,” she said. “And you need to find an ability to work with that really wide spectrum of banks.”

Not just

Lim said Sibos was a great opportunity for companies like ANZ to sit down with customers and share information around the future and best practice.

“Even in the current environment where it is tough and difficult, [ANZ is] continuing to invest to make sure that our capability is top of class,” he said.

“And we’re sitting down with our customers [to] exchange ideas and information about how to keep that momentum going.”

Hutchings said that two-way conversation was crucial.

“It's not just about [ANZ’s] agenda,” she said. “It's about how we work with partners in the industry.”

Arun Kayal is Associate Director, Communications & Shane White is Content Manager, ANZ Institutional