Consortium Computing and Time Slicing in the Banking Sector: Databank Systems Ltd New Zealand

Databank Systems was set up in 1967 by a consortium of New Zealand banks to share computing services. This was the first instance of computers being used to integrate the ledger accounts of all trading banks within a country, an innovation facilitated by the relatively small size of the country, the rising use of cheque facilities, and the realization that a joint effort would provide a more efficient service by enabling the pooling of resources to achieve scale from expensive computing technology. In 1972, Databank introduced time slicing, allowing nonbank customers to use spare capacity on the Databank system. This use of Databank outside the banking systems was controversial and the management of Databank was increasingly at odds with the Bankers Association. This article uses the example of Databank to address the tensions between consortium computing and the sale of spare time resources in banking.