Australian Banking & Finance articles from July 2004

Australian Banking & Finance archives from July 2004

Banks fear Basel changes.
July 21, 2004... MANY OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST banks see significant challenges remaining in their preparations to implement the Basel II Capital. Accord, according to a global survey of banks. Substantial numbers of banks surveyed remain uncertain over...

Mortgage Choice primed for expansion: Mortgage Choice will become a public company next month and is forecasting continuing strong earnings growth despite a softer housing market.
July 21, 2004... AUSTRALIA'S BIGGEST MORTGAGE broker is offering 37.8 million shares for institutions and retail investors and a priority offer by the company of 5.5 million new shares set aside for eligible Mortgage Choice franchisees and employees. Total...

Cashcard supports zero interchange.(Current Account)
July 21, 2004... CASHCARD AUSTRALIA HAS submitted its recommendations to the Reserve Bank of Australia on the designation of the ATM payments system. Cashcard is supportive of the replacement of the hidden ATM interchange system and current foreign ATM...

Banking world.(Current Account)(Brief Article)
July 21, 2004... Customers queue to withdraw money from a Moscow branch of Alfa Bank. The rubble fell the most against the dollar in a month after Moody's Investors Service said it may reduce the credit ratings of 18 Russian lenders, adding to concern about the...

Bendigo protects customers.(Current Account)(Brief Article)
July 21, 2004... BENDIGO BANK WILL HELP ITS online banking customers protect access to their banking accounts with VASCO's Digipass GO 3. Bendigo Bank will begin offering tokens to its e-banking customers later this month. Fraud schemes such as...

Offering the personal touch.(another view)(Bank Mergers)
July 21, 2004... A DAY AFTER WACHOVIA Corp announced its plan to acquire SouthTrust Corp, executives at Riverside community bank in Marietta began planning how to capitalise on the nearly $13.7 billion mega-deal. Combined, Wachovia and SouthTrust will be...

Banking's big IT spend.(Current Account)(Brief Article)
July 21, 2004... THE BANKING AND FINANCE sector IT market was valued at over $2 billion for 2003, according to IDC. Latest research from the "Corporate Banking and Finance" report shows this is the largest IT corporate market, followed closely by the...

Changes ahead for savings accounts.(News)(Brief Article)
July 21, 2004... THE DAYS OF THE TRADITIONAL transaction account are numbered, according to Online Banking Review. Industry analyst Charts Palmer believes consumers will continue to demand a better deal when it comes to their basic savings and transaction...

Card transaction surge.(News)
July 21, 2004... CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS PAID via merchant terminals and the internet will increase dramatically over the next 12 to 18 months at the expense of cash and cheque payments, according to new research by East & Partners. Together with debit...

Willis to head HBOS.(News)(Brief Article)
July 21, 2004... FORMER WESTPAC HEAD OF institutional, banking David Willis has emerged from the banking wilderness to head up United Kingdom-based bank HBOS's new Australian operation. The appointment will take effect from July 1 and Willis would "be...

Rethinking the financial services desktop: financial institutions are as money-savvy as the next enterprise, so it stands to good reason that firms are adopting internet portals as the preferred desktop for critical customer and employee-facing processes.(News)
July 21, 2004... PORTALS ARE DRIVING PRODUCtivity and increasing adoption of targeted services--from online sites serving institutional and high-net worth clients, to thin-client desktops serving financial advisors, fund managers and others. While...

The art of remote control: technology has changed the way people communicate and work. In today's world of instant communication, everyone values hassle free access to services and information that arrives quickly and on demand.(Advertorial)
July 21, 2004... AS THE WORLD BECOMES more connected, the mobile phone prays a crucial role in enterprise communications. The extent to which a business integrates mobile communication into the wider enterprise will become a key factor in their long-term...

Mohl confident on AMP recovery: AMP chief executive Andrew Mohl looked backed over the past year and addressed some of the key issues facing the group in an interview with Alan Kohler on the ABC's Inside Business this month.(News)(Interview)
July 21, 2004... Q: Andrew Mohl, you've got the share price back to where it was before the demerger and the capital raising last year and also the company is back in the top 10 on the market. Do you feel like this is just the beginning, that you're really just...

Industry united on positioning: more than 100 credit unions recently met and agreed to adopt the same positioning statement.(Special Feature--Credit Unions)
July 21, 2004... THE CREDIT UNION INDUSTRY, comprising 176 credit unions and 3.5 million members, has suffered a gradual decline in market share over the past decade. To address this issue, credit unions have agreed to a strategy designed to differentiate...

Member numbers rise on service proposition: credit unions have enjoyed strong financial performance during the 2002/2003 financial year driven by the strength of the housing market.(Special Feature--Credit Unions)
July 21, 2004... OVERALL, TOTAL ASSETS FOR credit unions increased by 13.5%. The asset growth translated into increased profitability for the sector, with operating profit after tax increasing by 17.25% for credit unions on a normalised basis. Peter...

Credit unions finally find their rightful place: the managing director of Australia's biggest credit union believes the industry is finally gaining the recognition it deserves.(Special Feature--Credit Unions)
July 21, 2004... GRAHAM OLRICH, HEAD OF Credit Union Australia says the benefits of banking with credit unions continues to strengthen and CUA is leading the pack with close to four decades of continued success and growth to prove it. Its recent win as...

Mortgage insurer enters short term deposit market.(Special Feature--Credit Unions)
July 21, 2004... ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S LEADING mortgage insurers, PMI Mortgage Insurance Ltd (PMI), recently entered the short-term deposit bond market with PMI Home Deposit--a short-term deposit bond that offers secure online validation. Managing Director of...

"Free lunch" in investment markets may soon be over.(News)
July 21, 2004... THE 2003/4 FINANCIAL YEAR has been an excellent one for investors. Double-digit returns from domestic and global shares and property have underpinned robust results. The combination of stronger economic growth, low interest rates, and...

Capital gains.
July 21, 2004... THE SWISS BANKERS' CONVENTION [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Banks in search for top talent: Australia's banking sector is increasing recruitment activity in anticipation of a stronger deal flow in the second half of calendar 2004 and into 2005, says a survey.(PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES)
July 31, 2004... THE MICHAEL PAGE FINANCE survey measures employment and salaries in Australia's banking and financial services sector and is based on trends captured from 3,000 candidates and 1,500 clients. "We are witnessing a significant increase in...

Debit card growth likely.(MasterCard International Inc)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... DESPITE SIGNIFICANT MARKET disparities across the world, there is considerable room for growth for regular debit and pre-paid debit card products in both developed and developing countries. A Celent Communications report also predicts...

New taskforce for online transactions: the Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) has formed a new industry taskforce to set standards for enhanced authentication of online transactions.(CURRENT ACCOUNT)
July 31, 2004... THE ABA WILL DEVELOP THESE standards, with its member banks, who will assess the level of risk associated with each transaction and establish appropriate mechanisms to verify the customer's identity. While the new Taskforce works on the...

Customer service representative Adriana Hernandez helps Jesus Flores send money to Mexico at a Bancomer Transfer Services store in San Fernando, California on Monday, July 19, 2004.(BBVA Bancomer)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Customer service representative Adriana Hernandez helps Jesus Flores send money to Mexico at a Bancomer Transfer Services store in San Fernando, California on Monday, July 19, 2004. The store's owner, Grupo...

Customers prefer tellers.(automated teller machines)
July 31, 2004... A recent survey conducted by Synergistics Research asked consumers the primary reason they don't use ATMs. The top reason, cited by 64 per cent of respondents, was that they preferred to use tellers. That preference is at least partially...

On the record.(Correction Notice)
July 31, 2004... "National's Australian franchise requires a period of targeted attention in order to achieve sustainable growth for the future" JOHN STEWART, ANNOUNCING THE PROSPECT OF A SIGNIFICANT FALL IN SECOND HALF PROFIT.

Elder to join ABA.(Australian Bankers Association)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... THE AUSTRALIAN BANKERS' Association has welcomed Elders Rural Bank to its membership. Elders Rural Bank is a joint venture between Bendigo Bank and Futuris Corporation, the parent company of Elders Limited. Its membership of the ABA is...

Bank of Qld's southern invasion: Bank of Queensland has announced the first five of its planned 100-branch interstate expansion in NSW and Victoria.(NEWS)
July 31, 2004... THE BRANCHES WILL BE OPEN for business on schedule before the end of August this year, and represent the bank's first foray into Sydney and Melbourne, along with regional NSW. Bank of Queensland managing director David Liddy said the bank...

Top banks urged to boost service to small business.
July 31, 2004... BANKS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES institutions must improve their understanding of the needs of small to medium sized enterprises. SMEs account for more than 95% of companies in Australia yet they have traditionally been sidelined by financial...

CBA lifts custom.(Commonwealth Bank of Australia)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... THE COMMONWEALTH BANK HAS selected Compuware's productivity toots to help bring new consumer services to market. The bank plans to roll out its CommSee application, using Compuware toots to develop, test, deploy and manage the application. ...

Faces of banking & finance 2004.(Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... BRIAN HARTZER WAS appointed group managing director of personal, banking at ANZ Bank in May this year. This is a new division which dusters all of ANZ's specialised businesses primarily servicing personal, customers in Australia. ...

Bankers must recognise full impact of Basel laws.(NEWS)(Basel II)
July 31, 2004... WHILE BANKERS RECOGNISE THAT the introduction of Baser II, as well as the introduction of international financial reporting standards (IFRS), have an impact on the bank's own risk management, risk measurement and capital management, it is...

Segmentation debate splits bankers.(NEWS)
July 31, 2004... ALL RETAIL BANK CUSTOMERS are equal, but are some more equal than others? That 0rwellian question is at the heart of a debate in the banking world over segmenting retail bank customers. For the nation's largest banks, customer...

Travelex launches multi-currency card.(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... TRAVELEX, THE GLOBAL FOREIGN exchange specialist, has launched a multi-currency version of its Cash Passport pre-paid travel. card in a direct attack on the estimated $600 million Australian travellers' cheque market. "Cash Passport will...

Debtors harder to find.(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... NEW PROHIBITIONS ON THE availability of the electoral roll for commercial purposes mean that using it to find debtors will now be greatly limited, according to Gadens Lawyers. Andrew Perry, Special Counsel--IP & Technology at the firm,...

GE finance targets 15% growth rate: General Electric Co's Australian consumer finance unit may make more acquisitions as it targets 15 per cent growth in its $12 billion of assets this year, says Tom Gentile, chief executive of the unit.(General Electric Co)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... GE CONSUMER FINANCE'S LOCAL unit looked at more than 50 potential, dears in Australia fast year and sees opportunities for growth in retailing and health care, Gentile said. Recent speculation has GE looking at Wizard Home Loans. ...

Genworth Financial emerges.(General Electric Financial Services Inc)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... GE MORTGAGE INSURANCE Services (GEMIS) in Australia and New Zealand is now part of a large new international insurance company, and in coming months brokers will see the Genworth Financial name become more prominent as the company transitions...

2004 features list.(mortgages)
July 31, 2004... 2004 FEATURES LIST Issue Cover Date Booking Deadline Material Deadline 1 30 January ^ 19 January 20 January 2 13 February 3 February 4 February 3 27 February 17 February ...

Consumers wary of market prospects.(MasterIndex, consumer confidence)
July 31, 2004... AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS ARE reviewing their confidence in the economy and in particular taking a cautious attitude towards the stock market, according to MasterCard's latest MasterIndex of consumer confidence. The bi-yearly survey reveals...

Mortgage broker market falls.(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... THE NATIONAL BROKER MARKET declined by 14% or $1.8 billion to reach just under $11.5 billion in the March quarter. While some of this quarterly decline is no doubt due to the traditional seasonality that usually accompanies March quarter...

AXA to boost role of platforms in advisory: AXA is set to launch its multi-million dollar program to boost the role of platforms in the financial advice process.
July 31, 2004... THE AXA STRATEGY IS TO ENABLE advisers to meet the needs of different customer segments on the one platform. It sees that as the Logical first step towards eventually enabling all key financial advice processes to be fully integrated. It...

A woman passes by a branch of the Shenzhen Development Bank in Shenzhen, China.(banking world)
July 31, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: A woman passes by a branch of the Shenzhen Development Bank in Shenzhen, China. Newbridge Capital Ltd, a San Francisco-based buyout company, won agreement to buy an 18 per cent stake in Shenzhen Development...

Asian Development Bank staff walk in front of a large screen showing the new AsianBondsOnline website during ADB's 37th Annual meeting of the Board of Governors in Jeju, South Korea.(banking world)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Asian Development Bank staff walk in front of a large screen showing the new AsianBondsOnline website during ADB's 37th Annual. Meeting of the Board of Governors in Jeju, South Korea. By launching the...

A Bank Mandiri teller assists a customer at a branch in Jakarta, Indonesia.(banking world)
July 31, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: A Bank Mandiri teller assists a customer at a branch in Jakarta, Indonesia. PT Bank Mandiri, Indonesia's largest tender by assets, this month had its outlook on credit ratings raised to positive from stable...

Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank AG.(banking world)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank AG, speaks during the annual, shareholders meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, June 2, 2004. Europe's third-largest bank by assets, will focus on...

Payment solutions.(NEWS)
July 31, 2004... IBM AND PEGASYSTEMS INC HAVE formed a global strategic alliance to deliver payments exceptions and compliance management solutions to the world's top-tier banks and card issuers and acquirers to solve some of the most demanding challenges...

St George secures corporate network.(NEWS)(St. George Bank Ltd.)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... ST GEORGE BANK HAS DEPLOYED a Juniper Networks integrated firewall and virtual private network (VPN) security solution to secure its corporate network and critical resources. "As a financial services firm, robust security for confidential...

New risk management product.(NEWS)(Teradata Financial Services Logical. Data Model version 7.0 Teradata Corp. )
July 31, 2004... TERADATA, A DIVISION OF NCR CORP, HAS ANNOUNCED the availability of Teradata Financial Services Logical. Data Model (FS-LDM) version 7.0 that enables financial, services institutions to establish sound risk-management practices, take steps to...

Web services: lessons from pioneers: when the first microwave oven appeared in department stores in the late 80s, the idea of taking only minutes to prepare the evening meal in a plastic container was greeted with some scepticism by Australians.(NEWS)
July 31, 2004... TODAY, MICROWAVE COOKING has become the norm in most households and has fundamentally changed the way we approach food preparation. So too, Web services is rapidly evolving from concept to reality and changing the way we work. Consider the...

Women take charge of finances.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... THE MAJORITY OF NSW borrower enquiries are initiated by women, according to a survey by Mortgage Choice. The annual survey of Mortgage Choice's franchisees throughout NSW also revealed that the state's borrowers are likely to be between...

Flexible staffing on the rise: survey: a total of 65% of employers have noticed a need to adopt a more flexible staffing approach over the last 12 months, according to a survey of over 1700 clients by Hays Banking.(PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES)
July 31, 2004... OF THESE EMPLOYERS, THE MOST common flexible approaches used were employment of part-time staff (offered by 42%), employment of casual staff on their own payroll (offered by 48%), temporary or contract staff employed through an employment...

Mark Bouris has been less than convincing in his efforts to hose down speculation he is considering selling out of his successful Wizard Home Loans group.(Wizard Mortgage Corp. Ltd)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... Mark Bouris has been less than convincing in his efforts to hose down speculation he is considering selling out of his successful Wizard Home Loans group. Bouris says latest speculation that GE has fronted up with an offer is just that. But...

While on Wizard, the group's high-profile head of customer information and advocacy Lisa Montgomery has suddenly left the company.(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... While on Wizard, the group's high-profile head of customer information and advocacy Lisa Montgomery has suddenly left the company. But she is not qutting the industry. She plans to spend the next year writing a book on personal finance.

National Australia Bank CEO John Stewart lurches from crisis to crisis.(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... National Australia Bank CEO John Stewart lurches from crisis to crisis. Who'd have the job, banking heavyweights ask around lunch tables and Stewart must surely be wondering why he took on the gig. Respected business commentator Terry McCrann...

Meantime one of the nation's most powerful investors, Bruce Teele, the head of Australian Foundation Investment Company, says NAB has much to do to convince the investment community.(National Australia Bank Ltd)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... Meantime one of the nation's most powerful investors, Bruce Teele, the head of Australian Foundation Investment Company, says NAB has much to do to convince the investment community. Critical to any recovery is the appointment of senior...

CBA boss David Murray received a bit of media flak for his comments supporting PM John Howard.(CommonWealth Bank Of Australia)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... CBA boss David Murray received a bit of media flak for his comments supporting PM John Howard. Why? Murray is the leading banker in this country and has every right to air his opinions. It's not as if Murray is a media magnate and in a position...

More credit unions mergers are in the wings.(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... More credit unions mergers are in the wings. Stay tuned.

Australia's largest building society Heritage has launched its first major advertising and branding campaign since the successful.(Heritage Building Society Ltd)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... Australia's largest building society Heritage has launched its first major advertising and branding campaign since the successful 'We could be so good for you' promotion of the early to mid 1990s. The integrated 'People First' campaign sums up...

A couple of senior apointments worth recording.(Citigroup and Investment Bank)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2004... A couple of senior apointments worth recording. Grant Dempsey and Jason McLeod are to join Citigroup as co-heads of Melbourne coverage in Citigroup's investment banking division. They will report to Alan James, Citigroup's head of investment...

Capital gains.(Cartoon)
July 31, 2004... "You're aware, of course, that there's a substantial penalty for early withdrawal on this account." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Ignore BPO at your peril.(business process outsourcing)
July 31, 2004... ANY CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER who ignores Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) options in their strategic planning is making a 'career-limiting decision', says Gartner analyst Jim Longwood. "Organisations can potentially lose 30 to 60 per...