ANZ focus is where we can win: Elliott

“We get paid to win,’ Elliott told bluenotes on video, speaking after he had written a detailed letter to staff on what he calls ‘The ANZ Way’. “Our customers pay us to win – not to be different. And our shareholders pay us to win.”

"People don’t wake up in the morning really caring about banking – they just want it to work.” - Shayne Elliott

“We are totally serious about this focus. It helps explain why we are exiting other parts of the bank, because we are determined to be the best bank in those areas alone.”

Elliott says that level of intensity in terms of focus has grown over time at ANZ in response to the increasingly complex nature of banking.

“We should choose to do a few things and do them really, really well,” he says. “And that’s essentially, from an investor’s point of view, what we’re doing.”

“We want to be the best bank in Australia and New Zealand for people that want to buy and own a home or start and run a small business.

“For institutional clients, we want to be the best bank in the world, for people who in the business of moving goods and money around Asia. It’s really about intense focus and delivery on those segments.”

Elliott said the bank has essentially only two resources: its technology and its people. Success comes from getting the two elements working in harmony.

“It’s about having people who care… who are creative and adaptive and listen,” he said. “And it’s about having the technology that enables customers to experience ANZ in a great way.

“People don’t wake up in the morning really caring about banking – they just want it to work. Really digital is just a code word for saying ‘just make it work for me’.”

Elliott also touched on tough choices on areas of business focus and being the first Australian banking CEO on Facebook. Watch the video above to find out more.

Andrew Cornell is Managing Editor at bluenotes