Archive for The Better Banking Blog
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Cloudy with a chance of competition
OPINION The plans for Sony Bank in Australia, Rogers Bank in Canada and Movenbank in the US are all proof banking competition of the future is going to come from non-traditional players. The first big driver for this is the mobile channel, which is leading to a rethink of the way people can ...
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The downside of downtime
OPINION Bank technology has been in the headlines of late for all the wrong reasons. Online banking downtime is becoming a more frequent occurrence, or at least an occurrence that gets noticed more often, as more customers shift online and banks struggle to service them consistently with decades ...
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Never mind, I’ll do it myself…
OPINION Connecting strong face-to-face service with online and mobile technology is one of the major challenges facing banks today, says Kiwibank chief Paul Brock (You can read the full issue in Retail Banking Review's March/April edition)). Regardless of the channel customers choose, they’r...
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Substance over style
OPINION The recent launch of the iPad2 did not disappoint Apple fans, with enough new additions to keep technology analysts entertained. Focus will now turn to the iPhone 5 and ongoing speculation it will include NFC technology to enable payments. The fact each new Apple release receives so mu...
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CBA’s Facebook face-off
BY CHARIS PALMER A night out with new friends could become very expensive for Commonwealth Bank staff. A draconian new social media policy document – obtained by Business Spectator – suggests follow-up communication on Facebook could get you fired. It’s ironic – when CBA hired forme...
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Competition takes a Swan dive…
OPINION In January 2009, on the back of the worst financial crisis many had lived to experience, we asked if the industry was about to see the death of competition. The removal of St. George and BankWest as serious competitors to the major banks delivered unprecedented market share to the Big ...
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Portability is possible, getting big four agreement a lot harder
OPINION National Australia Bank chief Cameron Clyne looked a little nervous when asked about account portability at yesterday’s Senate grilling, as testimony got underway in the current inquiry into banking competition. Given he had just moments before pointed out it’s the cost and time of...
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The return of the second tier
OPINION As Treasurer Wayne Swan prepares to release a package of banking reforms, and Senate committee members get ready to grill bankers about the level of competition in their sector, it’s clear we could soon seen the return of the second tier. From out of cycle rate rises, to disrupti...
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UBank readies mortgage for NAB experiment
NEWS After more than a year in development, UBank will launch a mortgage product this Saturday, a source close to the bank told Online Banking Review. The launch comes at a challenging time, with the group beaten to market this week by Firstfolio, and broker Mortgage Choice hot on its heels. ...
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Are Australian banks slipping into psychopath territory?
OPINION In his 2004 book and documentary The Corporation, legal scholar Joel Bakan argues if the corporation were a person, it would be a psychopath. Bakan makes his case, with emotive language and images, that the corporation is self-interested, inherently amoral, callous and deceitful. The c...
