BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

Customer satisfaction ticks up for big four

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 31-Jul-17

Teachers Mutual Bank enjoys the highest level of customer satisfaction among all Australian banks, according to Roy Morgan Research’s latest survey of the sector. It is followed by Heritage Bank and Bendigo & Adelaide Bank, while Teachers Mutual Bank’s customers are most likely to recommend it to a friend. The Commonwealth Bank is the most highly rated of the big four banks in terms of customer satisfaction, followed by National Australia Bank. Collectively, customers of the big four banks are slightly more satisfied with them than they were a year ago, while customer satisfaction with other banks has fallen by 0.9 per cent.

CORPORATES
TEACHERS MUTUAL BANK LIMITED, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, HERITAGE BANK LIMITED, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

ANZ joins the party with addition of Samsung Pay

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 18-Jul-17

The ANZ Bank’s Bob Belan notes that it has become the first major bank to allow customers to make mobile payments using Apple, Samsung and Android devices. ANZ will begin offering the Samsung Pay contactless mobile payments solution. It was the first Australian bank to provide access to the rival Apple Pay service. Westpac revealed plans to offer Samsung Pay earlier in 2017.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SAMSUNG PAY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, APPLE INCORPORATED, APPLE PAY, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, MESSENGER CORPORATION, WECHAT, SNAPCHAT INCORPORATED, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY, CREDIT UNION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BANK AUSTRALIA, DEFENCE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF SYDNEY LIMITED

Competition inquiry looks into access to finance

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 13-Jul-17

A Productivity Commission inquiry into competition in the financial services sector will be wide-ranging but focus on banks. It will examine factors such as the effect of banks’ vertically integrated business models on competition and whether consumers ultimately receive the benefits of innovation in the sector. Submissions to the inquiry must be lodged by 15 September, and the Commission’s final report is slated to be completed by mid-2018.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, ME BANK, KING AND WOOD MALLESONS

Bank staff blind eye to terror financing

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian – Page: 5 : 13-Jul-17

AUSTRAC has concluded that Australian financial services providers such as banks should be doing more to identify and report financial transactions that may involve money laundering or terrorism financing. It contends that front-line staff in particular have a key role in identifying such activity, but they may not be doing so as they have a focus on client retention. AUSTRAC noted that 60 per cent of trading and ­settling organisations failed to report any suspicious activity in the two years to March 2016.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

Major banks increase ‘share of wallet’ but big potential remains

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Jul-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which was carried out in the year to May 2017, shows that Australia’s four major banks have increased their share of customers’ dollars ("share of wallet") over the last decade, which correlates with their improvement in satisfaction over this period. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia recorded the highest growth in share of wallet among the big four banks over the last decade (7.4%), although BankSA recorded the largest growth (12.4%). Meanwhile, the top quintile (or 20%) of banking customers, based on the value of all their banking products, now accounts for nearly three quarters (74.2%) of the total value of banking products. The best performer for "share of wallet" in the top quintile is Bank SA (60.3%), followed by CBA (58.1%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

NAB acts to reduce riskiest lending

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 22 : 7-Jul-17

National Australia Bank will begin assessing the ability of interest-only mortgage borrowers to repay their loan when deciding whether to approve such applications. NAB already takes into account a customer’s loan-to-income ratio when assessing all loan applications, but it will reject applications from people with high loan-to-income ratios from 8 July. The major banks have increased the interest rates on interest-only loans in recent months.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, ING DIRECT

Satisfaction with big four banks remains high in May

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 3-Jul-17

A Roy Morgan Research Single Source survey has found that satisfaction with Australia’s four major banks rose by 0.1% to 80.2% in the six months to May 2017, which is well above the long-term average of 74.9% recorded since 2005. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia continued to have the highest level of satisfaction among the big four banks (81.1%), followed by National Australia Bank (80.4%). Meanwhile, satisfaction among home-loan customers of the big four (78.4%) continues to be below that of their other customers (80.6%), although over the last year they have narrowed the gap marginally. The survey also shows that CBA and NAB rank equal highest in terms of main financial institution satisfaction (82.6%), followed by ANZ (82.0%) and Westpac (80.7%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, TEACHERS MUTUAL BANK LIMITED, GREATER BANK LIMITED

Barnaba quits Macquarie for RBA board

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Original article by Julie-anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 30-Jun-17

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison has announced that Mark Barnaba will replace John Akehurst as Western Australia’s representative on the board of the Reserve Bank. Barnaba will step down as the head of global resources at Macquarie Capital to take up the central bank role. Macquarie Group CEO Nicholas Moore has praised Barnaba’s contribution to the investment bank. He is also chairman of Macquarie’s WA division.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, BLACK SWAN THEATRE COMPANY LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, WEST COAST EAGLES FOOTBALL CLUB

CBA joins peers in raising rates

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 26 : 28-Jun-17

The Commonwealth Bank will increase the interest rates on its owner-occupier and interest-only mortgage loans by 30 basis points. This follows a similar move by its major rivals, while interest rates on principal-and-interest loans for owner-occupiers will be reduced by three basis points. Commonwealth Bank hopes the rate adjustments will prompt more customers to switch from interest-only loans to principal-and-interest loans.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Views diverge on Macquarie Group earnings

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 26-Jun-17

Karl Siegling of Cadence Asset Management does not think the federal and South Australian bank levies will have too great an impact on Macquarie Group’s earnings. On the issue of taxes, Morgan Stanley predicts that Macquarie will benefit from President Donald Trump’s plans to reduce US corporate taxes, while Bloomberg notes that analysts expect Macquarie to record a 2018 profit of $A2.3 billion.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CADENCE ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, QUADRANT ENERGY PTY LTD, BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT INCORPORATED, BLOOMBERG AUSTRALIA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, AMB HOLDINGS PTY LTD, NUIX PTY LTD, ENDEAVOUR ENERGY LIMITED