As banks battle to keep an edge over rivals in a world of fast-changing technology, the Asia-Pacific banking group has drawn together luminaries from the tech world to advise its board.

Joining a trend of banks and wealth managers cranking up their strategies around technology, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group yesterday set up an international panel of experts to advise it on future trends.

The ANZ international technology and digital business advisory panel will meet quarterly with the board’s technology committee. Its members are: Aliza Knox, managing director for online sales, Twitter Asia Pacific and Latin America; Don Kingsborough, former vice president of global retail and head of strategic development, PayPal; Filippo Passerini, former group president, global business services and chief information officer at Procter & Gamble; and Gerard Florian, senior vice president, strategy and engagement, IT as a service, Dimension Data.

ANZ’s move comes as banks such as Credit Suisse, UBS, Citigroup and Singapore-headquartered-DBS, among others, are making a focus on digital platforms and technology key elements of how they develop areas such as private banking and wealth management.

“The board and our senior executive team recently visited the West Coast of the United States to consolidate our understanding and refine our approach to digital transformation. The meetings also helped deepen our understanding of the opportunities that emerging technologies are creating to better support our customers,” David Gonski, ANZ chairman, said.