Financial sector lagging in technology
The financial services sector is dragging its feet when it comes to online business transactions, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said.
According to the report 'Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business 2012-13’ by the ABS, the number of businesses in the finance industry that received orders on the Internet stood only at 19 per cent, compared to 30 per cent across other sectors.
“The most successful financial services firms in the future will be those that innovate and invest in IT to meet the quickly evolving needs of their customers,” executive director of IT solutions provider DST Bluedoor’s Karen De Angelis said.
“Given the new SuperStream initiatives, which are being introduced from July this year and aimed at improving the efficiency of back-office operations, we expect to see an increase I online business-to-business processing.”
The data comes as Financial Services Council chief executive John Brogden recently said Australia’s superannuation sector has been slow on the technology uptake.
He said the super industry has focused its energy on compliance, but this is slowly shifting to innovation through technology as funds want to remain competitive.
In terms of social media, 26 per cent of all businesses had jumped on board as at 30 June 2013, up from 18 per cent a year earlier.
More than half (52 per cent) the businesses in the information media and telecommunication industry are transacting online, while it is 48 per cent in the manufacturing sector, and 38 per cent in the retail sector.
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