Commonwealth Bank
Benefits of Our Transformation
Leveraging transaction data and advanced analytics to create economic forecasting models and consumer insights that became a world-leading PR platform.
About Commonwealth Bank
Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is one of Australia’s largest financial institutions, serving over 10 million retail and business customers across a wide range of products and services. With access to vast quantities of customer and transactional data, the bank recognised that it could go much further in using analytics to enhance forecasting, improve customer understanding, and shape better business decisions. The leadership team wanted to evolve CBA’s data capabilities from traditional reporting toward predictive insight that could deliver measurable commercial outcomes.
Results That
Matter
Enhanced
Market Insights
Powerful
PR Platform
Elevated
Global Position
Deep
Consumer Understanding
The Opportunity
CBA identified a significant opportunity to use its data assets to anticipate economic trends, customer needs, enhance product planning, and inform strategic decisions across the organisation. Forecasting was historically based on static models, which lacked the speed and adaptability required for a rapidly changing financial environment. The goal was to apply advanced analytics and machine learning to deliver more accurate predictions, deeper behavioural insight, and actionable intelligence that could be embedded into day-to-day decision-making.
Solutions Delivered
Beyond worked with Commonwealth Bank to deliver a comprehensive analytics and AI transformation programme.
- Predictive Modelling: Developed advanced models that used historical and behavioural data to forecast customer activity, financial trends, and engagement outcomes with far greater precision.
Customer Insight Framework: Built a data-led segmentation model to help identify key customer groups, enabling more targeted marketing and product strategies.
Data Integration and Visualisation: Unified multiple internal data sources and developed interactive dashboards that presented complex insight in an accessible, decision-ready format.
Capability Uplift: Supported internal teams through training and knowledge transfer to embed data-driven thinking across the business.
Results & Impact
The new analytical framework led to 1.3 million additional customer engagements and a 15% improvement in forecasting accuracy. These gains enabled CBA to engage customers more effectively, refine its financial planning, and make faster, evidence-based decisions across departments. The initiative also strengthened the bank’s competitive position by aligning strategic planning more closely with real-time customer insight.
Lesson Learned
Commonwealth Bank’s journey demonstrates how large organisations can transform operational forecasting and customer strategy through AI and analytics. The key lies not only in technical capability but also in embedding data literacy and insight interpretation across teams. Predictive analytics can elevate foresight and planning, but the long-term advantage comes from integrating insight into everyday decision-making and keeping the customer firmly at the centre of the model.
The Commonwealth Bank is now uniquely placed to provide insights into the Australian economy that will help them make better decisions on their financial future.
Ralph Norris, CEO, Commonwealth Bank
