Wellington, April 22 NZPA - Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd (CBA), the Australian bank run by New Zealander Ralph Norris, has awarded a 10-year contract worth up to $A100 ($NZ128.36) million per year to Telstra.

The bank's previous provider was Telecom Corporation of New Zealand subsidiary Gen-i.

Gen-i said it had decided not to participate in the tender for CBA's telecommunication services across Australia.

Gen-i has said it is focusing on the mid-market in Australia and trans-Tasman customers.

The transition of services to Telstra is expected to take up to two years.

Gen-i said it was proud to have been CBA's telecommunications partner for eight years.

In that time it had delivered a number of complex projects and overhauled the bank's core telecommunications, delivering cost savings.

Gen-i continues to work with the bank on a number of network services.

Australia's biggest telecommunications provider won the 10-year contract from the country's biggest lender to provide fully-managed telecommunications services to Commonwealth branches, Eftpos network and automatic teller machines, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The Commonwealth Bank is embarking on a significant transformation project and we are delighted to be a key partner," Telstra enterprise and government group managing director David Thodey said.

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