Tesco Bank’s CEO talks tech

Back when Metro Bank (opening 29th July) were looking for a core banking system, they initally had Temenos and Fiserv as their front runners.  Temenos got the deal as Metro Bank wanted to do this in a cloud computing style of operation, where each customer transaction is charged to them on a pay-per-transaction basis with zero upfront capital expenditure.

So it was interesting that Tesco Bank then chose Fiserv as their supplier.  I wondered if it was some sort of consolation prize and hence, when their PR firm sent me their new client testimonial, I didn't do what I normally do - hit the DELETE button - but said that I would post it on the blog.

This is not to advertise Fiserv however, but to hear from Benny Higgins - he who was formerly one of Andy Hornby's executive team at HBOS - the new CEO of Tesco Bank.

Therefore, if you're Temenos, Infosys, Oracle, Tietoenator or any other of my friendly core banking friends and brethren, I am purely posting this to illustrate a new bank's launch and selection process, not an endorsement of anyone ...

Tesco Bank from Chris Skinner on Vimeo.

And, just in case anyone objects to this form of advertorial, it was made by the British Banker's Association for their conference last week.

What intrigues me is this sense of deep drilling customer data and single customer view, a point made by Terry Leahy last year:

“In our move from retailing products to bank retailing, it amazes me
that the current incumbents reward the new customer rather than the
existing one. That encourages promiscuity and commoditisation. If you
can reward the existing customer more than the new one, by learning more
about them, then you can price your products better. For example, our
Clubcard (their major loyalty program) data allows us to price our
products 15% more accurately than the Royal Bank of Scotland for any
particular risk type by customer segment. This means we can be the best
at risk-adjusted pricing.”

Watch out old style bankers.