Westpac DataX will provide de-identified credit card transaction data to support multiple NSW government agencies.
DataX will support the NSW Data Analytics Centre with functions like disaster recovery, NSW minister for customer service and digital government Victor Dominello said.
The Data Analytics Centre, housed within the NSW Department of Customer Service, will use DataX’s insights to “further embed data-driven decision making across many of our agencies,” Dominello added.
“These insights help to paint a richer picture of economic activity across the state, allowing the team to service complex strategic use cases in a timely manner,” he said.
The insights, which are generated by millions of Westpac retail customers and enriched with other sources like data from merchant terminals, will “inform economic and social policy through evidence-based decision making,” Westpac’s head of DataX Jade Clarke said in a statement.
“Westpac DataX can provide a depth of insight to the NSW government through our de-identified data insights, filling information gaps on consumer spend and financial wellbeing to ultimately improve outcomes for the citizens of NSW,” she added.
Clarke said that the insights provided “enormous potential for disaster response and recovery planning in particular”, allowing the government to conduct “urgent impact analysis and [gather] insights to help focus relief efforts to citizens and businesses who need it most.”
“With our insights, the state government can quickly monitor how residents are affected, the impact of relocation and changing spend patterns with merchants – all on a granular, geographic level,” Clarke said.
“Our data provides a unique view into whether relief packages are working as intended, and also some of the longer tail financial health indicators.”