ANZ is forming a joint venture company with IT outsourcing firm Kaz Group to provide image-enabled cheque processing technology and services to financial services institutions in both Australia and the US.
Kaz will have a 60% equity in the joint venture, which will be conducted through two companies - one based in Australia and the other in the US. Both companies will be called Enhanced Processing Technologies (EPT).
EPT will consist of representatives from both ANZ and KAZ, with Brian Squires, ANZ executive manager, business products, heading the Australian operation, and Charles Dunn, general manager, Kaz Software Solutions leading the US division.
The new services offering will use the One-Pass system, which is based on Kaz's document and image processing software and supports a single pass process for image-enabled 'proof of deposit' cheque processing.
David Boyles, ANZ chief operations officer, says there is a significant market for the technology: "Having implemented the One-Pass system within ANZ, we were impressed by the significant improvements and cost savings to our cheque clearing processes."
Boyels adds that EPT is being actively promoted to the US banking industry and early indications reveal a positive response from the market.
Kaz says the agreement with ANZ is in line with its strategy of entering new markets through joint ventures.