In 2020, the list has been split into 10 industry-specific categories.
These are the top 10 innovations in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services category.
1. Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Innovation: Vonto by X15 Ventures
Number of employees: 500+
Vonto is an app that helps small business owners make better, data-driven decisions by connecting key business tools in one platform (including Xero, Google Analytics, Shopify, Instagram, Facebook and Vend).
Small business owners are sometimes switching between six apps to get a holistic view of their business and what Vonto does is simplify the business owner’s view of their business, says Vonto managing director Elliot Cousins.
It curates the range of “different SaaS applications or business apps and data they’ve got available, and pulls that into a single platform and leverages pretty advanced technology, particularly analytics capability, to generate a curated and highly personalised feed of data insights”.
Winner of the Best Innovation in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services category and the Most Innovative Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services organisation.
2. SocietyOne
Innovation: COVID-19 Hardship Response
Number of employees: 30-99
SocietyOne has designed a completely digitised process to dramatically speed up the processing of COVID-19 related hardship claims, without losing the quality of care and customer service. It spans three data collection channels, which are fed into a triage bot, which speeds up the process and improves the consistency of decision making.
More than 2000 customers were successfully assessed using the new process throughout a four-week period and the average time for processing requests has reduced from five days to less than 24 hours.
3. BPAY
Innovation: BPAY APIs
Number of employees: 100-499
BPAY Group’s developer portal is a one-stop shop for developers allowing customers to register and access BPAY APIs.
The BPAY APIs allow customers to access key features of BPAY in real time. For example, looking up a BPAY biller to ensure the payee details are correct and creating customer reference numbers and QR codes in the correct format to help BPAY biller reconciliation. These features avoid the need to implement more expensive and complex batch-based solutions, and reduce the overheads of mistaken payments for customers.
The API program directly led to 3 million BPAY transactions last financial year, the majority of which came from new customers. This represents a huge increase in both access to BPAY for financial institutions and access to an easy, secure payment option for end-users.
4. MoneyMe
Innovation: ListReady
Number of employees: 30-99
ListReady is a breakthrough, buy now pay later solution that provides instant access to funds, allowing vendors to delay listing costs such as advertising and styling up to $35,000 until settlement, while their real estate agency gets paid upfront.
The solution uses advanced machine-learning algorithms to provide an automated and frictionless payment solution, removing the hassle and upfront cost barrier associated with listing a property.
Since launch, over 300 real estate agencies and more than 2000 agents across Australia have signed up to use the platform.
5. Household Capital
Innovation: Household Capital Customer Experience (Cx) Software
Number of employees: 30-99
Household uses specialist software to help show older Australians how much wealth they have saved in their superannuation, pension as well as the savings they have made in their family home. The software delivers personalised information to older Australian outlining how they can better improve their retirement outcomes through a range of financial factors such as responsible use of home equity savings which can increase individuals’ confidence in the future.
The approach can double the amount of available superannuation savings for the median retiree, and since launch it has delivered tens of millions of dollars in credit to clients.
6. 86400
Innovation: Energy Switch
Number of employees: 100-499
Consumers can submit an old energy bill and 86400’s Energy Switch service intelligently recalculates the bill using hundreds of other plans to find cheaper deals. With no commissions and an industry-first one-tap switch, customers can confidently switch-and-save in minutes.
After selecting a cheaper plan, customers can avoid completing lengthy application forms by consenting to their personal information held by 86400 being seamlessly shared with the new energy retailer, ready for onboarding.
In the three months since the launch, more than 1200 electricity bills have been processed and cheaper plans found for around 70 per cent of customers who tried the service, delivering savings of between $135 and $2000 per annum.
7. Claim Central Consolidated
Innovation: Virtual Inspections as a Service (VIaaS)
Number of employees: 100-499
Virtual Inspections as a Service (VIaaS) digitally connects insurance assessors directly with policyholders to inspect and assess their claims, using a live video streaming and collaboration platform (LiveLogik), saving significant time and effort involved with on-site visits.
VIaaS meets every insurer’s need to ensure the safety of all stakeholders during and after the COVID-19 pandemic by removing the need for physical site attendance.
LiveLogik has been used on over 150,000 jobs globally in a variety of industries including insurance, construction, engineering, property management and manufacturing. It is currently used in Europe, North America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. It has led to a 62 per cent reduction in average assessment time.
8. Westpac Banking Corporation
Innovation: Wendy – Westpac’s First Digital Job Coach
Number of employees: 500+
Wendy provides teenagers with helpful and accessible information about finding and starting their first job – from understanding the difference between a CV and a resume, preparing for an interview or managing their social media accounts so they can put their best foot forward.
Wendy uses a system that is sensing, learning, adapting and communicating in real time using artificial intelligence services like Natural Language Processing, Speech-To-Text, Text-To-Speech, Sentiment analysis and Computer Vision Recognition to create a more real and personalised experience that moves beyond your standard text-based help. Importantly, Wendy gives customers choice so they can chat when and where it suits them.
9. FinClear
Innovation: The FinClear Platform
Number of employees: 30-99
The FinClear Platform does everything an adviser, stockbroker or fintech would typically outsource to multiple vendors and service providers. It makes the investment and management process significantly more efficient and reduces cost and risk for any investment that is listed on a stock exchange, such as equities, listed investment companies and Exchange Traded Funds.
The platform solution can provide a saving of 1 per cent-1 ½ per cent a year, equating to thousands of dollars for an investor. It’s especially efficient for clients with low account balances. In addition, it drives significant savings at the planner level as the administration costs are far lower. The platform currently services over 500,000 clients.
10. Lendi
Innovation: Lendi Approval Confidence
Number of employees: 100-499
The Lendi Approval Confidence technology provides customers with a real-time rating as to whether their loan application is likely to be approved by multiple lenders. Typically, borrowers must submit a home loan application and then wait weeks before getting feedback from the lender as to whether they meet requirements and will have their loan approved.
Lendi customers can now see whether they meet a lender’s requirements, subject to verification, in under an hour and in one single online session that doesn’t impact their credit score.
Approval Confidence is enabled by world-first direct integrations between the Lendi platform and the back-end decision engines of some of Australia’s biggest banks and lenders.