Telstra, NAB in $600M contract

The existing agreement with NAB for managed voice, data and professional services has been extended to include the upgrade of CDMA to Next G services, a hosted SMS solution, IP Telephony, and services to its wealth management arm, MLC.

David Thodey, Telstra’s group managing director of enterprise and government said NAB had been a Telstra customer for more than 20 years and the outsourcing relationship developed over the last five years had enabled the two organisations to foster greater collaboration.

“Telstra is working with NAB to deliver world leading next generation solutions to simplify the way NAB manages its information and communicates with customers, suppliers and partners,” Thodey said.

"The bank’s Mobile Bankers are using Telstra’s Next G mobile broadband Turbo Cards to take banking directly to its customers allowing them to approve loans on the spot,” he said.

“Mobile broadband is also being used by bank staff in rural areas allowing them to work from home and helping the bank to attract and retain skilled staff in regional areas by providing greater flexibility and work life balance," said Thodey.

Following the recent successful rollout of IP Telephony to 700 branch offices nationally, Telstra will now extend this solution to approximately 20,000 NAB employees in head offices to manage annual call volumes of up to 28 million per year.

Telstra is also providing NAB with increased network capacity in their branches allowing them access to a broader range of services and applications and better access to customer information and opportunities for remote training and development, said Thodey.

“Upcoming projects include the roll out of a new fleet of ATMs with broadband capabilities using both Telstra's Next G mobile broadband network in combination with our IP solutions,” he said.

Telstra also worked with NAB to deliver an SMS authentication service that provides the bank’s customers with secure access to banking services.

Customers conducting online transactions receive an SMS with a code that they then enter online, providing another layer of authentication and security.

The agreement also includes the establishment of an innovation fund that enables NAB and Telstra to create technology solutions that can deliver business benefits to NAB and its customers.