Former Nedbank CIO heads to the South Pacific - Ray Naicker — Nedbank CIO Ray Naicker

Former Nedbank CIO Ray Naicker will soon join BSP Financial Group as CIO. BSP is the largest bank and financial services provider in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the South Pacific region.

TechCentral reported in January that Naicker had resigned from his position at Nedbank, a company he had served for more than 20 years. During his tenure, Naicker held several senior roles in technology and digital transformation, including group chief digital officer, where he established Nedbank’s Digital Fast Lane and led key initiatives to accelerate digital innovation and strengthen technology strategy across the business.

“Ray’s appointment reflects the critical role that our technology strategy will play in modernising BSP for growth,” BSP said in a statement on Wednesday. “This includes how we architect technology to support our business across PNG and the South Pacific and how we leverage new technologies such as AI to drive excellence in customer service, risk management and our financial performance.”

Formerly known as Bank South Pacific, BSP Financial Group is the largest bank in Papua New Guinea and the dominant financial services provider across the South Pacific region. Founded in 1957 and headquartered in Port Moresby, the group rebranded from Bank South Pacific to BSP Financial Group in March 2021 to reflect a wider regional footprint and a more diversified set of services.

The group operates in seven Pacific island nations – Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands and Vanuatu – and has more recently expanded into Cambodia and Laos. It runs more than 121 branches, over 300 ATMs and roughly 12 000 point-of-sale terminals, the most extensive banking infrastructure in the region, and serves about 3.6 million customers.

Regulatory approval

BSP is dual listed on the Papua New Guinea Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange and offers a full suite of commercial and retail banking, asset and trade finance, treasury, foreign exchange, life insurance and fund management services.