Digital Transformation: Where Are Australian Banks on Their Transformation Journey?

Key Stats at a Glance

• 63% of Australian banks have a clearly articulated digital transformation strategy.
• 59% have yet to make significant progress implementing this strategy.
• 29% claim their organization has embraced a fully agile operating model.
• 56% say customer-centricity is driving key decisions in their organization.

Top Priorities for Digital Business Transformation in Australian Banks

• 26%: Improving the customer experience
• 19%: Growing revenue with new products and/or service offerings
• 14%: Reducing costs through improved efficiency
• 13%: Growing revenue from existing products
• 11%: Enabling greater agility
• 10%: New customer acquisition
• 7%: Challenging the threat posed by new market entrants (e.g., Google, Apple, Amazon)

Regulatory Challenges

• 39% said changes in regulation were their biggest barrier to digital transformation.

Lack of Operational Agility

• 34% think that a lack of operational agility is a problem for them, with just one in four claiming to have a fully agile operating system.

Legacy Technology

• 31% believe their legacy IT systems are holding them back, with two-thirds planning to modernize their old systems rather than replace them.

Customer Experience Priorities in Australian Banking

We asked 70 Australian banking leaders how they’re planning to transform their customer experience (CX):

• 39% are combining customer data across systems to build a richer understanding of their customers and their relationships.
• 37% are prioritizing omnichannel services to advance their CX transformation, ensuring products are seamlessly available across all channels.
• 36% are focusing on creating new services and products at the center of their CX strategy.

What’s Driving Digital Transformation?

• 57% cited increased competition from digital-first challengers and fintechs.
• 47% pointed to changing customer expectations.
• 44% referenced increased competition from direct competitors.

Three Priorities for Operational Transformation

We asked our 70 bankers about their operational transformation priorities:

• 58% think they’re ahead of their competitors in creating personalized customer experiences.
• 33% think they’re behind the competition when it comes to optimizing the customer experience.

Digital Transformation and ESG

• 57% say ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) is a key driver of their digital transformation plans.
• 47% said they're feeling significant pressure to improve their ESG credentials.
• 44% said they don't have the data, capabilities, or processes in place to assess their ESG performance.

Ahead of the Curve on Diversity

Australian banks are holding their own in driving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), with 36% of those surveyed saying their organization has made DEI commitments—slightly above the global average of 35%.

For more information, contact: adam.flesch@publicissapient.com

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