CommBank's Software Engineering team is responsible for creating seamless customer experiences to access Australia’s number one mobile banking app, as well as NetBank, Cardless Cash and Spend Tracker, to name a few.
“The impact you can have as a Software Engineer at CommBank is huge,” said Aurélien Gaudin, Senior Engineering Manager. “Every digital experience our customers interact with has been built by one of our Software Engineering teams.
"The volume of traffic produced by our millions of customers and the reach you have by
Aurélien sits across the majority of CommBank’s Software Engineering teams to support hiring, growth and development as well as engineering practices across the entire chapter. That’s a group of more than 500 developers alone, who are working together to solve complex problems for over 15 million customers. When it comes to our digital footprint, we see more than seven million logons per day.
“The development team is much larger than what people usually expect – we're one of the largest Software Engineering teams in Australia. We develop platforms, frameworks, APIs and user interfaces that create a simpler and more intuitive customer experience. Without us, customers wouldn’t be able to access and manage their finances like they do now.”
“As a Software Engineer, that unique scale brings exciting challenges around performance, security and reliability that are only tackled with the help of amazing colleagues working together to create seamless experiences for our customers,” says Aurélien.
“That’s what’s most unique about working here; whether someone is just starting out or an experienced leader, there are always opportunities to learn and grow your skillset.”
Creating a positive impact on our customers
The impact on the end user has never been more apparent than with the recent 2019 relaunch of the CommBank app.
With more than five million users, the relaunch was designed to create a seamless, simplified and personalised banking experience for every customer. This was done by redesigning the entire look and feel of the app and putting key features such as Spend Tracker, Cardless Cash and Cash Flow View front and centre in an all-new, customisable dashboard.
A revamped Customer Engagement Engine is actively helping customers behind the scenes by proactively managing their finances. In the past 12 months alone, this has delivered 60 million real-time, relevant notifications and smart alerts.
For mobile developer Carlo Chumroonridhi, working in the software engineering team allows them to directly impact how millions of people manage their finances. For them, this is equal parts rewarding, exciting and challenging.
For Carlo, it’s a similar feeling: nothing beats the simple pleasure of seeing his work in action every day. “It sounds corny, but whenever I’m out with friends and they pay using the app, I love saying ‘You’re welcome’. The tangibility of what you work on here is unreal.”
In the software engineering community, you drive outcomes every day. From sharing knowledge and insights to building tools that improve engineering workflows, software engineers have a hand across multiple touchpoints of the larger engineering picture.
Enhancing the user experience
From a customer point of view, the mobile app is one of the Bank’s most recognised digital assets. The lesser-known side of it is the number of teams that contribute to its success. Mobile engineers are responsible for developing and launching each new feature, but the ongoing updates the app receives are the result of multiple teams and disciplines working towards a shared goal. Each team brings unique perspectives and capabilities to work through complexity and create a streamlined user experience.
Product owners, developers, UX teams and visual designers all work collectively to decide how to approach updates and which solutions will best serve customers’ needs. Systems engineers provide the infrastructure to enable rapid deployment and data engineers analyse billions of data points to generate a detailed understanding of users’ needs and behaviours.
“I like to look at my role as a craft. When I create something, it’s like painting a picture,” says Carlo. “The most rewarding thing for me is finishing a feature and knowing that it’s a beautiful, simple solution which will make a positive impact on our customers’ financial wellbeing.”
Carlo agrees that one of his favourite things about being part of the software engineering community at CommBank is the people you get to work with. The team’s knowledge-sharing culture and the opportunity to learn from leaders and peers every day is what has kept him coming back.
“In my experience, no matter who you meet here, they are always wonderful, inspiring and motivating. Together we’re constantly pushing each other to be the best software team in the country.”
