Modernizing Lending Through Innovative, Secure and Scalable Technology

Steven Meek, Chief Information Officer, Pepper Money

Steven Meek, Chief Information Officer, Pepper Money

Steven is a strategic technology leader with 25 years of global experience driving innovation, transformation, and growth. At Pepper Money he leads the digital, data and technology functions, combining digital thinking, data-driven insights, commercial acumen, and executional discipline to deliver meaningful outcomes for both customers and the bottom line. His work spans digital strategy and delivery, enterprise transformation, M&A integration, and business operations, always with a focus on innovation, practical impact, and sustainable change.

As CIO of Pepper Money, I oversee our entire digital, data and technology ecosystem. My role involves aligning technology strategy with business goals, driving innovation and ensuring secure, efficient operations across the business. I focus on initiatives that transform how we operate and go to market— modernizing lending processes, enhancing digital experiences, unlocking data insights and exploring emerging technologies like AI.

Building Secure, Compliant Innovation From The Ground Up

Balancing innovation with compliance and cybersecurity is critical. We embed governance into every initiative through three key strategies:

1. Innovation with Guardrails: We pilot new technologies in controlled environments. For example, new machine learning models are tested in parallel with existing systems before scaling. We maintain transparency with the Executive Committee and Board, especially for high-risk innovations like AI.

2. Balanced Investment Portfolio: Using a structured prioritization framework and quarterly planning, we allocate resources across “run,” “change” and “transform” initiatives.

We track human capital investment ratios to ensure alignment with business value and operational sustainability, with full support from Executive Leadership and Board.

3. Compliance and Security by Design: Our legal, risk, cybersecurity and compliance teams are integral to the design phase of new initiatives.

By integrating regulatory requirements into product development, applying secure coding practices, conducting early threat modelling, and investing in modern controls, we achieve innovation with confidence.

Balancing Customer Experience With Platform Agility

We leverage modern technology to deliver seamless, personalized experiences and scalable systems:

1. Frictionless Value Chain: Using human-centred design and process mining, we optimize digital journeys. Brokers can complete online enquiries in under two minutes with real-time product fit and serviceability advice. Customers apply digitally, verify identity biometrically, upload documents securely and sign electronically. Underwriting is supported by automated workflows, document processing and real-time decisioning using machine learning. Fraud detection tools analyze data for tampering and asset finance disbursements enable same-day vehicle delivery. These innovations have led to above-average NPS scores, industry-leading mortgage turnaround times, and high auto-approval rates.

2. Agile, Integrated Architecture: Our microservices and low-code architecture supports rapid deployment and seamless integration across platforms. Systems communicate via APIs, enabling features like resuming paused applications in real-time. This architecture is scalable, reliable and minimizes downtime.

3. Cloud-First Infrastructure: With 90 percent of systems in public cloud or SaaS, we ensure performance, uptime and agility. This allows us to scale quickly during demand spikes or market expansion, maintaining fast uninterrupted service.

Key Advice For Aspiring Leaders

Driving digital innovation in a regulated environment is challenging but rewarding. My advice to fellow CIOs:

• Stay Customer-Centric and Business-Focused: Technology should serve customers and business goals. Be a business leader first, align initiatives with strategy and customer needs to gain executive support and deliver real value.

• Empower Talent and Collaborate: Innovation comes from people, so build diverse, skilled teams and give them space to grow. Share the vision, define boundaries and encourage safe experimentation. Foster cross-functional collaboration and lead by example.

• Capture Business Value: Move beyond IT dashboards to use data intelligently to tell compelling stories, quantify cost avoidance, efficiency gains or speed improvements in business terms. This builds trust and connects technology to outcomes.

• Continuously Reinvent Yourself: The tech landscape evolves rapidly. Stay informed on trends, regulations, and best practices. Be ready to pivot strategies and adapt your leadership style because adaptability as a CIO is essential for today’s uncertain, fast-paced environment.

Pepper Money is a leading non-bank lender founded on a mission to help people succeed. For over 25 years, Pepper Money has helped over half a million customers with a wide range of really helpful loan options including home loans, car loans, novated leases, personal loans, asset finance, commercial real estate and SMSF loans. Operating across Australia and New Zealand, Pepper Money works through trusted broker partners, white label solutions and direct channels—always guided by the question: “How can we be more helpful?”.