After a three-year hiatus, Australia’s customer owned banks, credit unions and mutuals had a chance to re-connect in person at the 2022 Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) event. Sandstone Technology’s Chief Customer Officer, Jennifer Harris, reports back with her observations from the convention, and more broadly, thoughts on the post-Covid shifts shaping this dynamic segment.

For almost 10 years, term deposits have taken a back seat. In fact, there are people in their 20s and 30s who have probably never considered term deposits as a banking product. And with super low interest rates the norm, why would they?

Mobile banking apps have traditionally been viewed as a cost centre. But this undervalues their potential to be both a sales channel, and a cost-reduction channel. They can play a key role in the digitisation of many banking processes in a digital transformation program.

Today, most Tier 1 banks develop their mobile banking apps inhouse. For other financial institutions, the path is not so clear. Should they custom build inhouse, maintaining absolute control, or lean on the experience of an external vendor and their white-label solution?

Sandstone Technology’s Chief Customer Officer, Ross Watts, explains why digital mortgages are no longer a desirable future state: they’re available now and becoming an essential tool in a bank's digital offering. For years, banks and other lenders have been describing their home loans as digital. But often that’s wishful thinking. What sits behind the scenes may be far from a true digital solution.

Whether it is personalised content on your social media feeds, instructing Alexa to change the song or using FaceID to gain access to encrypted details on your smart phone, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is something we can no longer ignore and in some cases, we can’t imagine living without it.

Fintech digital transformation can be made much simpler if partners are willing to drive value in the direction of their customers. With more innovation taking place in the industry, the ability to meet the customers’ needs is what sets a company apart from the rest. As the world continues along its current trajectory towards digital payments and banking services, organisations like Sandstone Technology — with multiple technological capabilities — are encouraging the adoption of fintech among consumers and businesses.

It’s a precarious time for lenders. Up against increasing demand for a painless customer journey, feeling the pressure to compete and grow, they’re also balancing risk appetite and constant regulatory shifts. Today, many banks and financial institutions recognise that automated digital lending solutions are essential to de-risk at scale, but there are sizeable obstacles to overcome before they get there.

AI is making a huge difference in digital banking solutions; and beyond that, in consumers’ everyday lives. For countless businesses worldwide, AI is fundamental to their operations.

Sandstone Technology’s CEO Michael Phillipou helps explain how APIs make exciting fintech integrations possible with many core banking system, however monolithic and problematic they may be.