Databank Systems Limited was the name of a not-for-profit "off balance sheet" company set up by a consortium of competing banks in New Zealand, to operate on what is nowadays termed a "Shared services Agency" basis, to provide computing resources (development and operational) for the consortium members.
The company was set up in 1967, and in 12 years grew to be the largest non-Government data processing organisation in the Southern Hemisphere, servicing more than 1,200 banking offices.
The consortium of shareholder-customers of Databank had ownership distributed thus: By 1984, the consortium ownership of Databank had changed due to the merger of BNSW and CBA banks, thus: A national computerised network was set up with overnight processing of transactions, initially on IBM System/360 Model 40 computers.
Money Transfer Services (MTS) were introduced in February 1969, and all branches of the trading banks were converted to computer processing by November 1969.
[2] In addition to processing for banks financial transactions, Databank also ran a service called Portran (Portable Fortran), with which school students could learn how to program a computer using punch cards.
The Fourth Labour Government elected in 1984 commenced a comprehensive restructuring of the New Zealand economy, including banking deregulation.
EDS' acquisition of Databank was intended to give it a base for further expansion, either by further takeovers or by selling services in the region.