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NGM Group said the migration would strengthen cyber security, improve operational resilience and support the development of new digital banking services for its more than 660,000 customers.
The migration brings together the systems supporting the group’s digital and branch services, core banking operations and payment services.
The integration is also supported by two purpose-built data centres, which NGM Group said were moving towards net-zero operations by 2030.
It follows the 2023 merger between Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent, which brought together more than $20 billion in assets and a combined workforce of 1,600.
NGM Group has since grown to $25 billion in assets and more than 1,800 employees.
Chief information officer Andrew Cresp said the migration would give the group greater flexibility to integrate new services and simplify its banking systems.
“Our migration to the cloud gives us better flexibility to integrate new services, improve our digital experiences and simplify our banking ecosystem over time,” Cresp said.
“By moving the entire customer journey to the cloud, we’re creating a safer and faster banking experience, with more reliable digital services, stronger data protection and improved resilience across our banking systems.”
$53m invested in technology
NGM Group said it had invested $53 million in technology and innovation over the past 12 months as part of its modernisation program.
The group has also expanded its Technology division by 10 per cent and recruited cadets from the University of Newcastle.
Cresp said the migration had enabled the group to consolidate the technology environments it had operated separately since the merger.
“We have been working off two separate technology environments since we merged three years ago, so this transition has allowed us to simplify our operations and decommission around 30 per cent of our technology estate,” he said.
“By reducing the number of applications and systems we manage, we’ve streamlined system management, reduced operational risk, strengthened our cyber security protections and delivered major cost savings.
“Importantly, the migration has created the foundation for our future, giving us the flexibility to introduce new products, services and digital capabilities for our customers in the years to come.”
Staying relevant
NGM Group’s tech transformation comes amid a digital shift for many mutuals.
Last month, People First Bank launched a new digital banking platform as it integrated the technology systems from the 2023 merger of Heritage Bank and People’s Choice.
The new platform, operated by fintech Backbase’s AI-native banking operating system, now underpins People First Bank’s mobile app and online banking experience.
For smaller banks, investing in technology is increasingly a necessity rather than a point of difference.
As technology becomes an increasingly important competitive edge for banks, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has cautioned that smaller mutuals may struggle to keep up with the pace of technological change.
In March 2025, APRA executive board member Therese McCarthy Hockey warned that mutuals that “fail to evolve could find themselves struggling to stay relevant”, identifying mergers as a potential pathway to greater scale and resilience.
Indeed, the mutual banking space has seen a string of mergers over the past year.
Bank Australia and P&N Bank confirmed they had completed the initial due diligence stage in August, while Beyond Bank and Family First Bank merged at the start of the year. Members also approved the merger of Teachers Mutual Bank and Australian Mutual Bank back in March.
[Related: Is AI coming for brokers? Industry weighs impact]
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