Dataplumbing.io
8 Dec 2017
ANZ and Common Ledger partner up on smart data solutions
ANZ partnered with a fintech startup Common Ledger to provide smoother lending process for their business customers. The new cloud based solution reduces manual work in accounting by the time of changes in banking data environment.
The collaboration between ANZ and Common Ledger
The ANZ and Common Ledger partnership is a textbook case of large and small companies putting their strengths together. Since launching in 2014, Common Ledger has built leading tech expertise in cloud-based accounting data solutions, whereas ANZ, as the largest Kiwi business bank, can offer their strong brand, customer base and scale for the partnership.
Traditional banks find new ways of working in the changing business environment. ANZ has partnered with Common Ledger, a pioneer in accounting data plumbing, to discover and deliver new data solutions for its customers and bankers.
ANZ and Common Ledger have created a product in order to streamline the lending process. Business loan applications used to be a lengthy operation demanding hours of paperwork from business owners, their accountants and the banking staff. This new solution pulls the financial data automatically from the accountant, enabling the bank to offer their business customers tailored and current services.
“Our two organisations, NZ's largest bank and a nimble fintech get to combine forces and double down on each others strengths for the benefit of our customers in the market.”
—— Liz Maguire, The Head of Digital & Transformation, ANZ
The partnership is a stepping stone towards new working models for both companies. This primary project launch has given ANZ good exposure in seeking new solutions with fintech startups. At the same time, Common Ledger awaits new opportunities, as the project widened their customership from accounting firms to banks.
“Working with a variety of startups enables us to increase digital capabilities of the services offered to our customers and staff.”
—— Liz Maguire, The Head of Digital & Transformation, ANZ
Increasingly larger organisations have a tendency to focus on what they are good at, and outsource things outside their core business. The partnership with Common Ledger helps ANZ to harness the external competence in order to provide leading banking services.
The banking industry is welcoming new data solutions in the new environment, where customer data ownership is prospective to change from banks to customers themselves. In EU, the new directives on data protection already allow everyone to access their own customer data and share it with anyone they want, and Australia has announced their own consumer data intentions in November.
The banks have always been trusted a great deal of information by their customers. Traditionally, the banks have been used to protect and control this data due to cost and lack of processes to utilize it. The innovative data solutions, like the cloud-based lending process, help banks to adapt the new circumstances and give them a competitive advantage for the benefit of the customer.
Changes are underfoot in banking under new data environment
A brief history of the Accounting Data Space
Historically receiving accounting data from customers by banks has been difficult, paper-based and time consuming. The businesses have originally done accounting on paper systems and later spreadsheets that have been shared between the stakeholders involved in the financial reporting and decision-making of the business. More recently businesses have begun using accounting software, which has structured accounting data and made it more available for the customer and their bankers, but the processing has still often been tedious.
Now with advent of cloud technology data is accessible and can be sent, received and
processed efficiently with just a couple of clicks. ANZ are picking up on this moment in history for its customers. For example, the lending process used to demand a complex process, where banker manually request financial data from a business client, who compiles them from the internal resources and accounting data. The new product provided by ANZ and Common Ledger utilizes the cloud-based data and makes the process fully automatised.