On October 13, 2025, Nuno Matos, Chief Executive Officer of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), discussed the bank’s updated strategy and vision in an interview with Alicia Muling, Senior Writer at bluenotes.
Matos described the day as significant for ANZ’s employees, customers, and shareholders. He outlined his overarching vision: “We want to unlock the potential of this organisation. We want to win the preference of our customers, of our shareholders. It's fair to say that we have a great bank, a great organisation. We are a combination of two scale markets, Australia and New Zealand. We have two leading positions – we are the number one institutional bank and also the number one bank in New Zealand – and we have a fantastic diversification because we operate in 29 markets, most of them in Asia Pacific, which is the fastest region in terms of growth in the world. So, leadership, it's about scale and it's about diversification. We can do better undoubtedly, and that's what this strategy is about.”
He acknowledged strong performance in Institutional and New Zealand operations but noted there is room for improvement in Retail and Commercial banking in Australia. The new strategy is structured around four pillars: Customer First, Simplicity, Resilience, and Delivering Value to customers and shareholders. According to Matos, the approach will be implemented in two phases: “The first phase is about getting the basics right… About resetting the culture into a winning performance culture… integrating Suncorp Bank… delivering the front end of ANZ Plus… increasing and improving the way we deliver non-financial risk.” The second phase will focus on leveraging these foundations for growth.
Reflecting on his international experience and five months at ANZ, Matos said: “It allows me to compare different markets in the world and understand what kind of elements could help us in drafting the new strategy... It's obvious that this is a very stable economy and a very stable financial system... At the same time, it's also quite commoditised... So I hope that what I saw in other markets help us... defining our ambition to differentiate propositions to different customer segments... it helps us think about how we can be much more 360 in the way we approach customers and add value to them.”
Matos emphasized that being customer-centric means focusing on basic needs: “If you want to be customer centric, start by asking the customers what they want... If you do it right, then you might innovate... But first, first and then comes innovation.”
Regarding ANZ Plus—the bank’s technology platform—he explained its role: “ANZ Plus is a fantastic technology... It was supposed to be the re-platforming of our Retail and Commercial businesses by replacing all the channel platforms... That was ANZ Plus. As I review it... it was clear to us that on one hand, the sequence of building ANZ Plus was probably not the best one and the delivery model was not efficient. So what we are doing is we are confirming that this is a great platform... but we have to get there faster, in a different sequence, and with a different delivery model.” He added that completing ANZ Plus’s front end will allow 8 million Australian customers to use one unified system.
Discussing early measures of success for “ANZ 2030,” Matos said: “Culture is absolutely critical... There are a lot of good elements of culture we have in our company, but certainly we recognise today that we have to be much more clear about what we do and what we don't do. We have to be more decisive. We have to take decisions and execute on time. And very importantly, be accountable to the things we decide to do.” He also committed to regular reporting against targets using consistent dashboards.
The information provided during this interview is intended as general background on ANZ Group’s activities as of October 12, 2025. It does not constitute investment advice or take into account individual investor circumstances.
Forward-looking statements made by Matos reflect current expectations regarding business operations and market conditions but may be affected by risks or uncertainties beyond ANZ Group’s control.
For further media or analyst enquiries regarding these developments at ANZ Group, contact details were provided for Lachlan McNaughton (Head of Media Relations), Alexandra Cooper (Media Relations Manager), Kylie Bundrock (Group General Manager Investor Relations & M&A), and Cameron Davis (Executive Manager Investor Relations).