What you need to know:

• Quantium has partnered with CBA to create CommBank iQ.
• CommBank iQ will allow big businesses, investors and Australian governments to see insights from the largest set of transaction data in the country.
• The new business will begin in the second half of this year.

Data science company Quantium has partnered with Commonwealth Bank of Australia to create an insights platform that will allow big businesses, investors and Australian governments to access the country's largest pool of transaction data.

Named CommBank iQ, the joint venture will make a suite of data-driven products that will support – or automate – decision making.

A spokesperson told Mi3 that Commbank iQ will allow brands, like fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies or car manufacturers, to access insights from de-identified customer transaction data that are often held by retailers. For example, this could enable carmakers to bring products to market faster by more accurately predicting demand patterns, or healthcare providers to better understand emerging market needs.

Quantium is majority-owned by Woolworths, which increased its stake to 75 per cent in a $223 million deal last month.

Both CBA and Quantium will contribute founding team members to the joint venture, the companies say in a statement.

“By working in partnership with Quantium, we can harness the power of this peerless dataset to help Australian governments, businesses, investors and NGOs predict and adapt to the changing needs and wants of their customers,” said Andrew Hinchliff, CBA’s Group Executive of Institutional Banking and Markets.

The new business will begin trading in the second half of 2021.