NAB picks Oracle for IT overhaul

NATIONAL Australia Bank has selected Oracle to roll out the first phase of its $1 billion core banking revamp.
In an announcement made to the Australian Securities Exchange today, NAB said Oracle would replace its core banking systems over the next five years.

The phase one rollout will involve the delivery of a platform for a new business division called Star Direct.

The Star Direct business will include a specialised, low cost, high service direct bank that will be launched later this year, NAB said.

“This is a significant investment for NAB and we plan to take a very phased and measured approach over the next five years,” NAB chief information officer Michelle Tredenick said.

“Our existing IT systems have served the business well to date, however they are not sufficient to support our future strategic direction.”

The second and subsequent phases of NAB’s core banking overhaul will be rolled out in parallel. Planning for the following stages is expected to take another six months, NAB said.

All the big four banks are expected to undergo core system upgrades in the coming years.

Commonwealth Bank recently announced its four-year, $580 million core banking modernisation project would be undertaken by German software vendor SAP and systems integrator Accenture.

ANZ announced it would overhaul legacy systems in its Asian operation, replacing them with the Infosys Finacle platform. The bank also said it would expand this platform to its local operations.

Westpac too was slated to modernise its core banking systems but the process has hit complications as it irons out a proposed merger with St George.

The process of integrating Westpac and St George’s technology operations would involve consolidating not only the core banking operations, but other infrastructure, including the communications network and hardware.

Source: Mitchell Bingemann @ www.australianit.news.com.au