The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is pushing higher on Thursday after providing the market with an update on its digital banking initiatives.
At the time of writing, the banking giant's shares are up 0.5% to $99.99.
What did Commonwealth Bank announce?
This morning Commonwealth Bank updated the market on its strategy and investments to reimagine products and services and build the best digital banking experiences.
Commonwealth Bank's CEO, Matt Comyn, commented: "The shift to digital banking is accelerating and we are investing to remain at the forefront of innovation. We aim to be the most trusted partner at the centre of our customers' financial lives by saving them money, giving them more control over their finances, and by making banking simpler and easier."
"We are integrating new services into our platform to customise and personalise the digital experience in ways that will increase engagement and bring greater value to our customers."
What are the new initiatives?
According to the release, Commonwealth Bank has launched a pilot under the new Consumer Data Right (CDR). This will see it become the first major Australian bank to allow customers to view account balances from other eligible financial institutions directly in the CommBank app.
It has also announced partnerships, which include minority investments of $50 million, in Little Birdie and Amber.
Little Birdie
The bank revealed that it has acquired a 23% shareholding in Little Birdie. It is an online shopping start-up that helps customers find special deals when shopping online.
Mr Comyn commented: "Little Birdie will bring customers the best shopping deals from across the internet and will help to connect our 7.5m digitally active customers with our 700k business customers. Combined with our 50:50 partnership with Klarna in Australia and StepPay, CBA's recently announced buy now, pay later card, we have a highly differentiated platform to help business customers grow and retail customers save money. Deals and offers, integrated with CBA's goal savings products, will help customers save for a special purchase in a completely different way."
Amber
Commonwealth Bank has acquired a 25% shareholding in Amber. It provides subscription based access to wholesale electricity prices.
The CEO said: "Purchasing a home is a time when customers look for ways to save money, and electricity is a large expense in a household budget. Our partnership with Amber will help to differentiate our home buying proposition, with Amber providing direct access to wholesale prices and bringing additional discounts for CBA customers."
Better digital experiences
Mr Comyn concluded: "CBA's technology enables us to redefine what customers can expect from a bank, moving beyond customer service to delivering deeper, trusted relationships, a better digital experience and better deals on everything from conveyancing when buying a home, to paying for utilities or shopping for homewares.
"We will continue to pursue a strategy of providing a differentiated banking experience for retail and business customers, and leveraging our technology assets to build distinct propositions to better serve our customers."
