Media releases

Westpac named one of Australia's most innovative companies

 

28 November 2013

Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) has ranked 4th in The BRW 50 Most Innovative Companies 2013 for its market leading mobile app Mobile PayWay and its industry leading superannuation ‘rollover gateway’.

Mobile PayWay

Westpac's Mobile PayWay app allows small merchants and mobile service people to accept credit card payments on the go using an iPhone. This innovation makes Westpac the first bank to release a fast, efficient, secure and simple solution for collecting credit card payments via the iPhone. 

Mike Baldwin, Head of Innovation and Implementation, Westpac Institutional Bank, Global Transactional Services, said: “Customer feedback following a pilot this year has led us to extend this innovation and in our next release we'll incorporate a card chip reader and flexibility for customers to enter their card PIN for more security.”

This innovation won the ‘Best Payments Product’ in the Asian Banker, Excellence in Retail Financial Services International Awards in Singapore for 2013.

QuickSuper Gateway

Westpac’s rollover gateway QuickSuper doubles as a clearing house, dramatically simplifying the process of combining super into one account.

It has overhauled the previously lengthy, manual process of transferring savings from one super fund to another. According to Mike Baldwin, “This caused account holders to miss out on potential earnings.”

One of the objectives of the Government’s Stronger Super reforms is to transform the ‘back office’ of the industry and remove excess costs caused by manual processing of superannuation rollovers and contributions.

Currently, the industry processes an estimated 100 million transactions every year at a cost of $3.5 billion. Ernst & Young has estimated that removing manual processes and streamlining payments could save up to $1 billion of Australians’ superannuation savings every year (Stronger Super – Government Response to Super System Review).

“The Westpac QuickSuper Gateway combines the transaction information with the physical payment to remove reconciliation issues that could arise under a standard gateway,” Mr Baldwin said.

Alexandra Holcomb, Group General Manager, Global Transactional Services, said:  “Achieving 4th place in The BRW 50 Most Innovative Companies 2013 is extremely rewarding for us as we continue to work hard at finding innovations that make it easier for our customers to do business.”

"At Westpac, we are committed to investing in and commercialising innovation for our customers to deliver faster and more flexible banking solutions that meet their needs,” she said.