Biza Customer Success Story

Delivering Business Value via the Consumer Data Right

5 min read

Australian Military Bank Limited

“The Biza.io team was only a phone call away. Whenever we needed something done, it was not seen as a problem and they were very accommodating to our requirements. I would recommend Biza.io because the HaaS platform is a turnkey solution that lets you get on with running a Bank. Biza.io’s focus on technical compliance took the guesswork and complexity out of the integration requirements, and best of all, it’s a fully managed solution being monitored 24/7.”

Enis Huseyin, Chief Information Officer at Australian Military Bank

Summary

Australian Military Bank needed a partner who could enable Consumer Data Right (CDR) compliance as a Data Holder and would eliminate the need for multiple vendors. Through selecting Biza.io, Australian Military Bank became the second Mutual Bank live on the platform, well clear of the deadline.

The Customer

Australian Military Bank (AMB) is Australia’s longest-serving financial institution serving the Defence community, helping Australian families manage their money better since 1959. AMB supports its members with transaction accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, personal loans, home loans, and investment loans.

The Challenges

In November 2017, the Australian Government introduced CDR in Australia to facilitate Open Banking initiatives. The CDR was created to give consumers greater access to and control over their data and encourage competition and innovation in the banking sector.

Australian Military Bank (AMB) considered numerous providers to assist it with meeting the CDR obligation deadline in July 2021. AMB needed a solution which would pass on the CDR services to its members, and ensure full ACCC-standard compliance.

The Bank was concerned about the complexities involved with technically complying with all the new CDR requirements. As such, it was searching for a turnkey solution that would reduce the workload on its end. AMB needed a simple solution to provide the data required by the Holder-as-a-Service platform from its Core Banking System.

The Bank set about compiling a business case for the provision of a CDR compliance partner, that would ensure compliance before the deadline’s expiration. Within this business case, AMB declared its preference to have one vendor that could support the whole platform and didn’t require the Bank to cobble together different solutions.

Before ultimately selecting Biza.io, AMB found other providers did not have a proven working solution that was in production being used by a Data Holder or Data Provider, and this was seen as a project risk that could impact production go-live dates.

In particular, AMB had a second brand, RSL Money, to bring online with the CDR at the same time. Other providers were unable to deliver Data Holder multiple brands into the CDR without a significant cost uplift, unlike Biza.io.

The Solution

Enis Huseyin, Chief Information Officer at Australian Military Bank, made the decision to select Biza.io in order to meet CDR compliance. “Biza.io was able to cater for the Bank’s needs in a phased approach with the regulations. We started with the Product Reference Data solution, then moved on to CDR, and when we’re ready, we can implement a Data Recipient solution all from the same platform,” Huseyin says. Implementation and integration was conducted through AMB’s Infosys Finacle Core Banking System, which proved a seamless option through the use of REST APIs. The Biza.io, Infosys, and AMB project teams were able to collaborate effectively, to deliver a fully functional, easy-to-use solution.

What We Achieved

By partnering with Biza.io, AMB was able to meet the CDR compliance deadline quickly, achieving this milestone faster than almost any other Mutual Bank in Australia.

For the Bank, one of the primary benefits was the fact that it was able to go live without any exemption from the regulator. This allowed AMB to be the second Mutual Bank live on the platform, with no production impacting issues during deployment.

Through partnering with Biza.io, AMB is able to be fully compliant with CDR without having to hire more staff with the specialised skills in this area. Additionally, AMB maintains its reputation within the Customer Owned Banking sector, and with the regulators.