Teachers Mutual Bank to offer Hiver digital bank app from 'late July'

Teachers Mutual Bank will make apps for its new digital-only bank Hiver available in app stores later this month.

The bank unveiled the Hiver branding and web presence last month, saying that it would open downloads "soon", without specifying a timeframe.

Hiver is intended to serve a customer base of essential workers across education, emergency services and healthcare.

Teachers Mutual Bank Limited is targeting about 5000 sign-ups in the first year of operation.

A Teachers Mutual Bank Limited spokesperson told iTnews the "late July" arrival of the apps would allow for "robust testing ... to deliver a product which meets the high customer experience expectations we have set for our members."

“The program of work to bring Hiver to the Australian market continues in earnest, and we are excited that Australia’s essential workers will soon have access to their own digital and ethical bank," the spokesperson said.

Teachers Mutual Bank CEO Steve James told a recent parliamentary hearing that the initial launch of Hiver would be for new Teachers Mutual Bank members.

It will become available to the wider public towards the end of August.

Hiver will start life with a savings product before progressing to home loans and other offerings.

It will be built on technology from Victorian-based Ultradata, which also acts as Teachers Mutual Bank’s core platform.

Teachers Mutual Bank is the first Ultradata customer to use a module of the core banking platform to underpin a neobank.

Ultradata underpins core banking for about 40 other credit unions and mutual banks aside from Teachers Mutual Bank.

“We have every confidence from what we've seen so far that the software works perfectly and blends in with the rest of the core banking platform," he said.

Hiver will become the fifth brand for Teachers Mutual Bank Limited in addition to the Firefighters Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank and Unibank brands.

Cyber security spending

The Teachers Mutual Bank Limited spokesperson said that the bank spent $1.28 million on cyber security controls and related programs to ensure data protection as well as member data security over the past financial year.

“Teachers Mutual Bank Limited uses a range of industry leading technologies and platforms in its cyber security program," the spokesperson said.

“This program includes penetration testing, malware protection, encryption, 24/7 security monitoring, vulnerability management, segmentation, firewalls, spam and phishing protection, data loss prevention, third party assessment and tracking, among other initiatives.

“This cost also includes a one-off consultancy cost of approximately $400,000 on a board-endorsed cyber security project to further enhance our cybersecurity controls."