There is a need for continuous development of internet banking in order to remain competitive

Only an Agile approach to systems development will cut it in the fast paced world of internet banking according to the head of UBank, NAB s online division which has now racked up almost 200,000 customers for its online only accounts, generating almost $10 billion worth of deposits. According to UBank general manager Alex Twigg there is a school of thought emerging in online businesses that there is a need for continuous development in order to remain competitive and that was also the case in banking. That rapid change is driving testing and learning without the hideous processes of waterfall, said Mr Twigg in a presentation at Cebit in Sydney. He said he had adopted Agile development techniques a decade ago which were better suited to rapid responses to changing customer or market demands. Flickr deploys new code ten times a day. How does a world of quarterly releases compete with that? he asked. Mr Twigg said he was not concerned about the competitive threats from big monolithic rivals such as Commonwealth Bank, but I do worry about Google and Apple He said that a company like Google which had more than 5,000 Googlets (ideas) floating around could easily see some ideas morph into a competitor. Also, the advent of peer to peer lending platforms such as Smava, Frooble, Lending Club and Loanio could also develop into a challenge for banks. We are in a world of incredibly fast change where you have lost control of the customer said Mr Twigg. He said that the speed and ability to change was what would drive competitive advantage. He also pointed to the imminent release of a range of UBank apps which would become a very large part of what we do at UBank. Asked whether the recent spate of banking technology glitches had dented customer enthusiasm for online banking, Mr Twigg said they had probably dented banking s reputation overall, but that customer demand for internet services was not being impacted. The bank is in a position to tap into the psyche of its users more than most banks, having been a long term advocate of social networks. UBank has traditionally relied heavily on social networks such as Twitter ad Facebook to market its products and services. Visitors to its web site can also click through for an instant Skype session with the UBank call centre and Mr Twigg said more than 6 percent of the call centre calls came through this route. He added that the bank had to date racked up more than 200,000 viewers for its YouTube videos, had more than 4,000 Twitter followers and 6,000 members of its Facebook community.