Richard Burton

Westpac has welcomed the launch of the next phase of Open Banking which allows personal banking customers to share certain data with trusted third parties.

Starting yesterday, eligible Westpac customers can share their credit and debit card data, as well as deposit and transaction account data, with accredited third parties. The type of data available to be shared includes personal customer information as well as transaction and usage data.

Westpac Acting Chief Executive, Consumer, Richard Burton, said Westpac was proud to be able to switch on Open Banking for customers.

“Today marks an important milestone for Open Banking with customers now having the ability to share their data. Westpac supports enhanced data sharing in banking as it will help drive competition and customer choice.

“We have been working hard throughout the entire process to ensure the system is robust and secure for customers,” he said.

“Enhanced data sharing will give customers more confidence they are getting the best deal, and help make it easier to find the best value service that meets their needs.

“We’re committed to ensuring our customers understand how they can benefit from the change Open Banking is bringing to our industry now and into the future,” Mr Burton said.

At this stage, only data on deposit and transaction accounts and / or credit and debit card accounts in single names can be shared. Over time other accounts including joint accounts, home loans and personal loans will also be available.

To be eligible to share data through Open Banking, a Westpac customer must:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be registered for online banking for personal banking
• Be registered for SMS Protect

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Nathan Taggart has been promoted to the role of Head of Strategic Development and joins the Distribution Leadership team, reporting to Zurich Life and Investments’ Head of Distribution Kristine Brooks.

New appointments include eight Business Development Managers and one Strategic Accounts Manager, based across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.

• In New South Wales: Annqua Murray and James O’Dwyer join as Business Development Managers, and Liz Versace joins as a Business Support Officer.
• In Queensland: Tanya Woolnough joins as Business Development Manager.
• In Victoria: Emily Cossignani and Andrew Roberts join as Business Development Managers, while Sarah Nichols has been promoted to the same role.
• Tim Atley joins as Strategic Accounts Manager and Heena Mulchandani joins as a Business Development Associate, both reporting to the Strategic Development team.
• In Western Australia: Richard Burton and Steve Coyle join as Business Development Managers.

Ms Brooks said the appointments follow Zurich’s recent acquisition of Macquarie Life and the securing of several important new distribution relationships.

“This investment in the size of our team allows us to fully support our growing network of IFA and bank-aligned partners. It comes at a point in time when it’s critical that we as an industry educate as many Australians as possible about the important role of life insurance, and do all we can to ensure as many Australians as possible are properly protected,” Ms Brooks said.

“I’m very excited to welcome these talented people to our award-winning BDM team. It’s a reflection ofin the market opportunity we see across the country and means we have more firepower to support our advisers and licensee partners to grow their practices and focus on delivering fantastic financial advice to help protect and grow the wealth of Australians,” Ms Brooks added.

The appointments come prior to Zurich revamping and refreshing its product proposition in 2017, and more fully integrating the products acquired through the Macquarie Life acquisition in October 2016.

Key experience

New South Wales

• Nathan Taggart joined Zurich in 2013 after five years at BT Financial Group and previously Aviva Australia. He has held a range of distribution and advice roles.
• Annqua Murray has worked at TAL and AIA and previously was based in South Africa.
• James O’Dwyer has extensive Advice experience.
• Liz Versace joins from OnePath.

Queensland

• Tanya Woolnough joins from AMP and her financial services career spans 15 years of product and business development management in the QLD market.

Victoria

• Emily Cossignani has over ten years’ experience managing key relationships in Victoria and Tasmania and joins from AIA Australia, where she held BDA and BSO roles.
• Sarah Nichols joined Zurich’s General Insurance division five years ago before moving to Life Risk in early 2014, moving through BDO and BDA roles since.
• Andrew Roberts joins Zurich from the role of National Insurance Manager at NAB Financial Planning. He played an integral role in the expansion of NAB Financial Planning APL and Zurich product accreditation of 480 NAB advisers. He was previously National Training Manager for IRESS.
• Tim Atley has joined from Lifebroker, where he was Head of Sales & Operations. He has previously held roles at ANZ FP, iSelect and NAB. Tim joins Zurich’s national Strategic Accounts team, managing ongoing relationships with current dealer group partners, and is Melbourne-based.
• Heena Mulchandani joins Zurich from a paraplanning role at Salt Financial Group – Securitor

Western Australia

• Richard Burton joins the WA team from Westpac Group’s mortgage broking team and has over 17 years’ finance industry experience.
• Steve Coyle joins the WA team in the role of Business Development Manager, most recently running his own financial planning business. Previously he was State Manager for Guardian Financial Planning dealer group, and held roles with NAB and AMP.

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