Developers at Commonwealth Bank are preparing the final touches on a new digital business arm aimed at corporate and SME customers.
Backr is a software as a service platform that has been under development in the bank’s incubator program known as X15 Ventures.
It will provide automated tax, accounting and legal services to subscribers alongside business introduction and networking solutions.
A CBA source confirmed to Banking Day that the new digital venture was earmarked for a launch sometime in August or early September.
The new Backr enterprise has no connection to a Canadian online audience management company that trades under the same business name.
Backr is one of the early rollouts from X15 Ventures, which group managing director Matt Comyn expects will spawn around 25 new digital enterprises by 2024.
CBA is expected to deepen its capital investment in the incubator next financial year to accelerate the development and marketing of other digital businesses.
X15 Ventures is part of the bank’s stand-alone online development operation, which is managed through a silo company, CBA New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd (CBA-NDB).
There are currently three digital enterprises up and running within CBA-NDB, including Credit Savvy, a business that was spun out of Aussie Home Loans earlier this year.
The two other businesses are Home-in and Vonto.
Home-in is an online mortgage advice service that the bank appears to be positioning in competition with mortgage brokers.
The service is marketed as a step-by-step tool for guiding home buyers through the mortgage process.
Vonto is the first digital platform launched CBA’s incubator program that is aimed at SME customers.
It provides daily analytics on a firm’s sales and other performance indicators.
While CBA is sole owner of the CBA NDB, it has forged partnerships with Microsoft and KPMG to bring to market projects sponsored by X15 Ventures.