Fidelity National Information Services, Fiserv and Metavante Ought to Be in New Zealand Right Now

I'm not complaining about the large number of daily news items I receive from Google, because I asked for them-intelligently I might add, according to a few key words. So when I read about a report last week of IT glitches that blocked New Zealanders from using their banks' services, I wondered if those banks were using FNIS, Fiserv or Metavante. Nah.

Bank's website was down; 79% of consumers say their bank's IT is undependable; Slow Internet banking; Customers are asked for the same information multiple times; Customers now rely more heavily on high-tech channels to perform their banking chores, but those channels aren't dependable; Customers expect their banks' access points to be available at all times.

What's worse is that bankers were not surprised at the results of the survey.

I have never been to New Zealand, but I wonder if they've got indoor plumbing. With problems as basic as these, it appears to me banks in New Zealand need a new technology provider. Either that or New Zealand needs to be acquired by another country. It's sitting out there all by itself in the middle of the South Pacific. So who can get there to solve problems that early adopters in the U.S. had, solve, and now joke about them?

Sorry folks for the sarcasm, but Automation in Banking - 2008 is three weeks shy of hitting the streets, and I feel like there's one problem that the U.S. doesn't have to worry about right now-we've got the best banking technology in the world.

Do you know the way to Whangarei...