BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

Big four banks cash in on zero interest

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Original article by Max Aitchison
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 21-Jan-26

Analysis by Jarden shows that customers of Australia’s four major banks hold a combined $320bn in transaction and business accounts that do not pay any interest. This equates to about 10 per cent of each of the four major banks’ total deposits, and nearly 20 per cent of the estimated $1.7trn in deposits held by all of the nation’s lenders. Jarden’s analysis also shows that the four big banks’ implied earnings from zero-interest accounts have risen sharply in recent years. Matt Wilson from Jarden says the major banks have benefited from customer loyalty and inertia in recent years; he adds that this may change in 2026, and customers may begin seeking better deals for their bank deposits.

CORPORATES
JARDEN GROUP LIMITED

Big four banks slammed over deposit deception for savings

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Original article by Max Aitchison
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 20-Jan-26

Research published in 2023 showed that two-thirds of customers at Australia’s four major banks are not earning the maxium interest rate on savings accounts that offer bonus rates. Data released by National Australia in response to a written request from Liberal MP Aaron Violi shows that this situation has not changed since then; NAB revealed that only 34 per cent of customers with a Reward Saver account earned the advertised bonus interest rate of 4.15 per cent in the last six months. Violi has called for an end to this ‘deposit deception’ and contends that all banks should be more transparent and remove hurdles to ensure that the majority of customers with such accounts can earn the maximum bonus interest rate.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

BHP closes in on CBA’s crown as ASX king

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 13-Jan-26

Shares in BHP have risen by 30 per cent in the last six months, lifting its market capitalisation to $236bn. The resources giant is now just 8.5 per cent shy of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s market cap of $258bn, and a continued strong run could see it reclaim the title of the ASX’s biggest company. CBA’s shares peaked at $192 in mid-2025; Peter Gardner from Plato Investment Management believes that CBA is still a bit overvalued at its current price of about $154 per share. Meanwhile, BHP has been buoyed by strong commodity prices, which has prompted investors to rebalance their portfolios in favour of mining companies rather than banks.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, PLATO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Westpac cuts 200 teller jobs for digital

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 15 : 24-Sep-25

Westpac is set to retrench 200 of its bank tellers as part of its latest restructuring program. The Finance Sector Union’s national secretary Julia Angrisano says it is "callous and short sighted" for Westpac to get staff to migrate customers to its digital services and then sack them. She adds that the FSU will hold Westpac to account "every step of the way", arguing that workers whose roles are cut must be re-skilled and redeployed, rather than discarded. Angrisano adds that Westpac only agreed to establish a $5m development fund for displaced staff due to pressure from the FSU, and that there has been no clarity as to how this fund will work and whether it will genuinely protect jobs.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, FINANCE SECTOR UNION

ANZ faces record $240m penalty for ripping off customers and government

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Original article by Michael Janda, Emilia Terzon
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 16-Sep-25

The ANZ Bank has agreed to a total financial penalty of $240m to settle a case brought by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. The record fine includes an $85m penalty for the bank’s management of a $14bn government bond issuance in April 2023, and a $40m fine for overstating its bond trading turnover over a period of nearly two years. ANZ has also been fined $115m for widespread misconduct in its retail banking division; this includes failing to respond to hundreds of customer hardship notices, failing to refund fees to thousands of deceased customers, and making false and misleading statements regardings its savings interest rates. The penalty must be approved by the Federal Court.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

4500 jobs cuts at ANZ not about profits

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 10-Sep-25

The ANZ Bank has advised that its 2025-26 financial accounts will include a restructuring charge of $560m as part of its plan to shed about 10 per cent of its workforce. ANZ will retrench about 3,500 employees and 1,000 contractors as recently-appointed CEO Nuno Matos continues to reshape the ‘big four’ bank. Matos contends that the job cuts difficult but necessary in order to eliminate duplicated roles and simplify ANZ’s complex structure. He adds that the job cuts are "about getting things right" rather than profits. The Finance Sector Union’s president Wendy Streets says ANZ is discarding workers so its executives can feed an "out-of-control profit machine".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, FINANCE SECTOR UNION

CBA can win big from Klarna float

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 19 : 3-Sep-25

Global digital bank and ‘buy now, pay later’ provider Klarna recently filed documents with the Securities & Exchange Commission for an IPO in the US. Klarna is currently believed to be valued at between $US13bn ($19.9bn) and $US14bn. The Commonwealth Bank’s latest annual report values its stake in Klarna at $956m, compared with a peak of nearly $3bn at the height of the BNPL boom. Analysts expect the Commonwealth Bank to sell down its Klarna stake, either via the IPO or on the open market; Hamish Carlisle from Merlon Capital Partners says Klarna has been "strategically peripheral" for the big four bank.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, KLARNA, UNITED STATES. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, MERLON CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD

Commonwealth Bank defends giving problem gambler $13k in personal loans

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Original article by Pat McGrath
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 26-Aug-25

An unnamed problem gambler has taken the Commonwealth Bank to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, alleging that it breached its responsible lending obligations. It comes after the CBA gave the male problem gambler around $13,000 in personal loans, despite the fact that he spent over half his take-home income on online betting during the 90-day period prior to it advancing him the first of what were two loans. In its defence, the CBA stated the loans did not breach its internal policies, which block borrowers who have spent more than $10,000 on gambling in the 90 days before making a loan application.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY

CBA slashes dozens of call centre jobs, citing new AI system rollout

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Original article by James Eyers, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 29-Jul-25

The Commonwealth Bank informed the Finance Sector Union last week that it will be making 45 roles in its call centre operations redundant, following the introduction of a chatbot system last month to answer customer inquiries. It is likely to be the first of many redundancies in the CBA’s call centres as a result of AI, with the CBA saying the new system has reduced the volume of call centre calls by 2,000 a week and has allowed it to concentrate its focus on upskilling its call centre team to deal with more complex customer queries

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FINANCE SECTOR UNION

Two-year freeze on bush bank closures

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 7 : 12-Feb-25

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the banking sector has agreed to retain all existing branch banks in regional areas until at least mid-2027. The deal to extend the moratorium on branch closures for two years has coincided with a recent move by three of the major banks to renew their deal to provide banking services via Australia Post outlets. Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh notes that despite the growing shift to online banking, many customers in regional areas still prefer to use branches.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA POST