ANZ to keep National brand

David Hisco will live in Auckland and hopes to grow the bank's share in the city. Photo / Richard Robinson

Seven years after buying the National Bank, ANZ is to adopt one IT system across the two banks.

But new chief David Hisco says the move is not the beginning of the end for the National Bank brand.

Hisco, who has been in the top job for just eight weeks, said the ANZ and National Bank brands had very different business strengths.

While ANZ was strong in the business lending market, National had a strong rural market share and a private bank style.

"They both serve different purposes. What we need to do is make the brands relevant and work together not against each other."

The bank was reviewing how it would do this over the next few months and Hisco did not rule anything out.

"Everything is on the table."

But he said the move was not a step towards dropping the National Bank brand.

"We have always talked about two dining rooms with one kitchen. What we are focused on is getting one kitchen."

The bank would be able to do a lot more if it was not spending money on two IT systems, he said.

Hisco blamed the pace of technology change for its delay in switching to one system. "The IT world moves really fast."

It had opted for the National Bank systematics system because 70 per cent of its customers already used that system.

The change would allow ANZ New Zealand to have its own system which meant it would not have to get in a queue with Australian transactions.

Hisco would not put a figure on the cost associated with the change but said there would be "no big bang".

However, the changes would see some of its current IT contractors out of a job.

One positive from the change will be that customers will be able to make a deposit at either bank without having to pay a $3 fee from January 1.

Hisco, an Australian who hails from Victoria, was appointed after former CEO Jenny Fagg resigned because of illness.

He has worked in New Zealand before and previously headed ANZ's finance company UDC between 1998 and 2000.

Unlike the former ANZ New Zealand chief executive, Hisco will be Auckland-based and said he hoped that would allow him to grow the bank's Auckland share.

"I would like to see our market share grow in Auckland. I would like to think being here would push that along."

Hisco said ANZ's board had met in New Zealand in the past week and there was a feeling the bank was "back in the game".

"We had a soft result over the previous year and there was a much better bounce this year. If you look at the 2009 result it was very low in comparison to where we had been tracking." The previous result had been hit by the tax charge and high provisions but the bank was moving back to more normal conditions.

Despite this Hisco said the bank would not be relaxing its lending conditions to allow people with less than 10 per cent deposit to get a mortgage.

"We are not chasing over 90 per cent [loan to value ratios]."

Coming together
* ANZ New Zealand will roll out the National Bank systematics banking system by the end of next year.
* The one IT system will save 100,000 man hours.
* 70 per cent of customers already use the National Bank system.
* ANZ and National Bank customers can make deposits at either bank without being charged extra from January 1.