A new challenge
YORKSHIRE BUILDING SOCIETY
“ I ’ m not saying we ’ ve achieved it yet but we certainly can achieve it . Building societies have a unique opportunity because we ’ re not a bank and don ’ t have shareholders , we have members and can really focus on that service proposition , the key differentiator .”
White ’ s new world vision emanates from time spent in Asia and Australia , regions with different approaches to banking . A proud Scot , he is the first to admit the UK has fallen behind other more innovative parts of the world .
“ That really shaped my thinking around what the realms of possibility are for financial services here ,” he adds . “ From 2009-2014 I was in Australia with NAB , in charge of customer processing and payments , and part of that role was also looking after the customer servicing in the international offices , which included Hong Kong , Singapore , Tokyo , New York and London . This gave me real exposure to different forms of technology and digital and what was happening elsewhere in the world .”
A new challenge
Family priorities brought White back home in the summer of 2014 , where he initiated a digital restructuring and transformation journey at Allied Irish Bank ( AIB ). Approached last year by YBS , he decided to take on a different , though not dissimilar challenge .
Such a challenge can be outlined in three major strands , the first being complexity brought about by rapid growth and acquisitions post-2008 crisis . The business doubled in size , and with that came new brands and
“ Do we want to become more digital ? Yes . Do we still believe in branches ? Yes . We want to provide a seamless experience across all of our channels ”
– Stephen White , Executive Director and Chief Operations Officer
134 May 2017