MyState Bank to replace internet banking platform

MyState has begun replacing its existing internet and mobile banking platform as it looks to provide "new state of the art" capabilites for customers. 

The replacement system will be underpinned by cloud-based platform Temenos, which is also used for the Tasmanian-based bank's core banking system.

In its full year FY21 results, the bank said it is on track to launch its “next generation mobile app and internet banking” in the first half of the 2022 calendar year.

MyState Bank CEO Melos Sulicich told iTnews during a results media call that the cost of project is expected to be “in the range of $4 million”.

“It's more a complete replacement then big upgrade. It’s certainly the same company providing it but the technology and platforms are very different,” he said.

Sulicich added while the current system has had “a nice five year life”, the time was now right for a change.

“We're looking to work to improve the customer experience and the things that we can do and provide our customers in the new mobile banking platform, a much more contemporary state of the art [system].”

MyState Bank is already underway with the transformation, with the Temenos team “well down the path of getting all the various things lined up”.

Sulicich said while the current mobile experience is “fit for purpose” and “does all the basic stuff really nicely”, the new app is expected to offer new capabilities like facial recognition.

Users will also be able to disable and re-enable cards, open accounts within the app and transfer money more smoothly. 

“There's a lot more servicing capability within the app, as well as origination capability,” Sulicich said.

“It'll have some other features as well, which I won't go into now, which are really exciting, which are actually not currently available in the Australian market.”

Sulicich added more details on new features and capabilities will be released closer to the release date.

“It's much more feature rich in terms of the things that customers are looking for and needing for an internet and mobile banking app than we've currently got.”

Sulicich said despite the banks strong digital ambitions its content to continue seeking technology skills and platforms from third parties.

“We believe [for our size] we can get the best bang for our buck by taking offshore software and integrating with our current systems and using it that way, rather than trying to build ourselves,” he said.

Over the year, the bank saw an uplift of customers turning to internet and mobile banking with 71 percent of MyState customers registering for internet banking and 94 percent of transactions digitally completed.

MyState also continued it digitisation of back office processes to increase scalability and generated over 1.5 million banking app insights each month using artificial intelligence.

The bank reported a net profit after tax of $36.3 million, up 20.9 percent from the prior year.

The bank completed a $55.5 million capital raise in May this year to "rapidly accelerate the execution of MyState's growth strategies".