CUA joins fintech partnership with Pivotus, says will help develop tech more cheaply and quickly
Australia’s biggest credit union CUA is partnering with overseas lenders to develop banking technology, saying the move will help them innovate more quickly and cheaply.
The move from Brisbane-based CUA is the latest example of how banks are adjusting to technological change. Some are taking stakes in online lenders, for example, while branches are under pressure as customers increasingly use mobile phones for banking.
CUA chief executive Rob Goudswaard said the deal with US-based Pivotus Innovation would represent a “significant” investment.
“We see that the future of banking is going to be … contactless,” Mr Goudswaard said, highlighting the use of smartphones.
No solid ideas had emerged yet but Mr Goudswaard said important themes in the collaboration included how humans would be involved in technology, as opposed to just using artificial-intelligence in devices. He argued customer-owned CUA needed to spend money on technological developments, even if not in this deal.
“The later you come to the party, the more difficult it would be,” he said.
The deal sees CUA working with UK building society Nationwide, Netherlands’ De Volksbank and US-based stockmarket-listed Umpqua. Umpqua, whose technology includes touchscreen walls in branches with apps for customers, owns Pivotus.
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