BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

Millions of people being left behind as big banks close branches, say experts

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Original article by Matthew Elmas
The New Daily – Page: Online : 16-Feb-24

Researchers from RMIT and Swinburne University have warned that many Australians are being left with limited or no access to banking services as the sector shifts to digital banking. The nation’s major banks have closed hundreds of branches in recent years, but Julian Thomas from RMIT says a significant proportion of Australians either lack reliable access to the internet or cannot afford the cost. The banking industry has claimed that nine out of 10 Australians now use online banking; however, the researchers’ analysis of digital inclusion index data shows that only 74 per cent of people aged 75+ and 87 per cent of public housing tenants do so. They also note that many people in regional and rural areas lack reliable internet access.

CORPORATES
RMIT UNIVERSITY, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Bullock: banks should bear more of cost of moving cash

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 13-Dec-23

Australia’s major banks will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the future of cash distribution, amid warnings from cash transport firm Armaguard that the growing shift to digital payments may threaten the company’s viability. Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock says there are merits to exploring a co-operative model for cash distribution, which would require authorisation from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. Bullock added that the central bank places a high priority on the community continuing to have reasonable access to cash withdrawal and deposit services.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, ARMAGUARD

ANZ-Suncorp deal no threat

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Original article by Glen Norris
The Australian – Page: 15 : 5-Dec-23

The ANZ Bank’s appeal against the blocking of its deal to buy Suncorp Bank continued before the Australian Competition Tribunal on Tuesday. Cameron Moore SC, who is representing Suncorp Group, contended that the $4.9bn deal would not undermine competition in the banking sector, as Suncorp Bank is a relatively small player that had until recently been losing market share in its home state of Queensland. He also argued that a merger between Suncorp Bank and Bendigo Bank would not make financial sense for shareholders of either company.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, SUNCORP BANK, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN

Westpac suffers online banking outage with customers shut out of accounts

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Original article by Martin Farrer
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 5-Dec-23

Westpac advised late on Monday evening that it was working to restore its mobile and online banking services following an outage that left customers unable to access their accounts. Westpac has attributed the outage which began at around 8pm to a ‘routine technology update’. Many people were unable to make payments via credit cards or mobile phone due to the outage, while others reported that they could log into Westpac’s platform but their accounts were missing. Some customers criticised Westpac for advising of the outage via social media rather than its website. Westpac had fully restored all affected services by 5.15am on Tuesday.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Bendigo Bank is the most trusted agribusiness bank among Australian farmers, followed by NAB and CBA

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Oct-23

A special Roy Morgan Agribusiness Brand Trust Survey of Australian farmers looking at trust and distrust in the nation’s agricultural sector shows that Bendigo Bank is the most trusted agribusiness bank in 2023. Farmers commended Bendigo Bank for its community support, long-term relationships with farmers, the provision of reliable customer service, and for providing solutions locally. The next most trusted banks in the agribusiness sector were National Australia Bank and the Commonwealth Bank. The higher Net Trust Score for Bendigo Bank was largely driven by higher trust among sheep farmers; however, dairy farmers ranked CBA as the most trusted bank. Differences were also evident among beef, horticulture and other livestock farmers. The findings of the Roy Morgan Farmer Agribusiness Brand Trust Survey Report are based on 1,002 in-depth interviews with Australian farmers conducted during July 2023.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Court urged to make example of CBA on pay

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Sep-23

The Federal Court has been urged to impose the maximum penalty on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for underpaying about 7,4000 employees some $16m over more than a decade. Michael Seck, the lawyer representing the Fair Work Ombudsman, contended that the penalty must be sufficient to deter other large companies from underpaying their staff. The bank had self-reported the underpayments to the FWO and has provided back-pay to all affected employees. The underpayments occured after CBA shifted affected employees from an enterprise agreement to individual agreements.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN

NAB blocks high-risk crypto exchanges

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 17-Jul-23

The National Australia Bank has announced it will block payments to certain high-risk cryptocurrency exchanges as from 17 July, although NAB head of fraud Chris Sheehan has declined to name which exchanges are being targeted. The NAB’s action is the latest in a series of similar crackdowns by the major banks, who are finding that scammed money is increasingly being diverted into cryptocurrency, making it almost impossible to recover for scam victims. Asked if the ban includes Binance, Sheehan replied that "our approach is going to be consistent with the rest of the industry".

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BINANCE

Bendigo Bank home loan customers are the most satisfied with their bank after a year of interest rate rises

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Jun-23

New financial data from Roy Morgan’s Single Source shows that Bendigo Bank has topped the latest banking customer satisfaction ratings among home loan customers. Bendigo Bank’s customer satisfaction rating has increased from 86.2% in May 2022 to 91.0% in May 2023. Close behind in second place is ING with customer satisfaction among home loan customers at 88.3%, up 0.2% points from a year ago. The latest data covers the six months to May 2023, and overall home loan customer satisfaction amongst Australia’s top 12 banks collectively was at 75.5% during this period. This represents a decrease of 1.6% points from the six months to May 2022, just as the current record-setting interest rate increasing cycle got under way. Meanwhile, NAB now has the highest home loan customer satisfaction among the big four banks, with a rating of 75.6%. Average home loan customer satisfaction with the big four banks as a group was 73.7%. These latest banking satisfaction ratings come from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth interviews with over 60,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Commonwealth Bank fined a record $3.55m for breaching spam laws with millions of emails

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Original article by Josh Taylor
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 7-Jun-23

The Australian Communications & Media Authority has ordered the nation’s biggest bank to pay a record penalty for breaching the Spam Act. The Commonwealth Bank has been fined $3.55m for sending 65 million unsolicited emails to customers; the bulk of them required customers to log in to their account in order to unsubscribe, which is prohibited under the legislation that took effect in 2021. The bank has also agreed to a three-year court-enforceable undertaking to independently review its online marketing practices and staff training.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Big banks to miss future facing mining boom

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 5-Apr-23

Tribeca Investment Partners portfolio manager John Stover says Australia’s major banks are not prepared for the new commodities boom that is being driven by critical minerals. The four major banks’ combined lending to the resources sector peaked at $64.7bn in 2015, but data from Bridgend Capital Advisory shows that this has since fallen by $25bn. Stover notes that many banks significantly reduced their mining and resources teams when the last commodities boom ended; this has left them with a dearth of skills, particularly with regard to commodities that will be vital to the transition to a low-carbon economy.

CORPORATES
TRIBECA INVESTMENT PARTNERS PTY LTD, BRIDGEND CAPITAL ADVISORY