Australian Banking & Finance articles from September 2002

Australian Banking & Finance archives from September 2002

Tax review boosts investment flows; local and international banks have welcomed the Federal Government's review of international taxation arrangements as an important step in further expanding the contribution the financial services sector makes to the Australian economy.
September 16, 2002... FINANCIAL SERVICES ARE NOT only critical to the smooth and safe operation of all Australian businesses through prudent lending and deposit taking activities, but the sector is also a key driver of economic growth in its own right. The...

`Funds culture' a key issue for Westpac.(after BT Financial Group acquisition)
September 16, 2002... SUCCESS OF WESTPAC'S acquisition of BT Financial Group will depend on many things, but a key area which should not over-looked is the poor record of banks in developing a strong funds culture. Some analysts, including those at van Eyk...

Adelaide Bank meets earnings forecasts. (Current Account).
September 16, 2002... SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL bank Adelaide Bank Ltd met its earnings forecasts with a 21 per cent increase in year net profit to $41.2 million and forecast strong growth going forward. "Adelaide Bank is today welt positioned to further reap...

Wide Bay Capricorn maintains growth record. (Current Account).(Wide Bay Capricorn Building Society)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2002... WIDE BAY CAPRICORN BUILDING Society has continued its strong record of performance announcing its fourth consecutive full year reporting period of profit growth and a net profit after tax for the year to June 30 of $8.82 million. The...

St George to expand dragondirect service. (Current Account).(online banking services at St. George Bank)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2002... ST GEORGE BANK IS PREPARING for a major expansion of its online services. Dragondirect has grown rapidly since its launch in September 2000 and now boasts about 80,000 customers and has $2.7 billion under management in its two key...

Homeloans happy with $5.71m profit result. (Current Account).(Brief Article)
September 16, 2002... ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S LEADING non-bank tenders Homeloans made a net profit of $5.71 million for its 2002 year, prior to adjusting for a significant item pertaining to a change in accounting policy. The result is 14.3 per cent higher than the...

Global credit quality on the improve. (Current Account).(ratio of downgrades to upgrades)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2002... GLOBAL CREDIT QUALITY continued to improve in the second quarter of 2002. The global credit ratio--ratio of downgrades per upgrade -fell to 3.1 in the second quarter from 5.3 in the first quarter and 7.0 in the final quarter of 2001,...

On the record. (Current Account).(Westpac)(Homeside)(Suncorp-Metway Ltd.)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2002... "The reforms will reduce the size of the transfer from the community to financial. institutions for credit card usage and will, over time, promote genuine competition on credit card interest rates and on the merchant service fees charged to...

Liberty raises fraud alarm. (News).(mortgage brokers and non-conforming market)
September 16, 2002... ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF THE non-conforming market in Australia has called on mortgage brokers and lenders to keep sight of the customer's best interest and be vigilant for fraudulent practices that could give the entire industry a bad...

Insurers build sustainable advantages. (News).(Trowbridge/Deloitte Top 20 ranking of general insurers)(Illustration)
September 16, 2002... THE GREATEST BENEFICIARY OF the dismemberment of HIH's empire is ALLIANZ whose premium income for the year to December 2001 grew by 57 per cent. The chairman of Deloitte's national insurance industry group, Peter Caldwell, said, when...

CGU lauds e-business channels. (News).(electronic commerce at CGU Insurance Ltd.)
September 16, 2002... AUSTRALIA'S THIRD-LARGEST general insurer CGU has experienced rapid growth in financial institution sales through e-business channels since it introduced its E@sysure sales system. Lou Power, general manager, consumer business said the...

Smart card industry vibrant. (News).(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
September 16, 2002... THE PAST YEAR HAS PROVED A "watershed" for the emerging smart card industry with R&D concepts now reaching operational reality. Chris Fendley, CEO of ECard, Australia's leading smart card service provider, says the number of smart cards...

Heritage assets pass $3bn. (News).(assets under management at Heritage Building Society)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2002... TOOWOOMBA'S HERITAGE BUILDING Society has reached the $3 billion mark in total assets under management. Chairman Brian Carter and managing director Fraser Read-Smith said achieving the milestone was another indication of the breath-taking...

Top women call for support. (News).(women-friendly work environment)
September 16, 2002... DESPITE MORE WOMEN CLIMBING the corporate Ladder in the banking and finance industry, most organisations still have a long way to go before they create an environment that is supportive of women, leading female executives say. Speaking at...

Bluestone launches line of credit mortgage. (News).
September 16, 2002... SPECIALIST LENDER BLUESTONE Mortgages has launched a major product upgrade with an innovative Line of Credit mortgage for borrowers who don't fit the usual tending criteria of the traditional bank and non-bank tenders. Bluestone's...

Mixed reaction to credit card reform. (News).(interchange fees cut)
September 16, 2002... The Reserve Bank this month announced a raft of reforms to credit card schemes, with a cut of up to 40 per cent in the fees charged by banks to merchants. These reforms are designed to make the credit card industry more transparent and...

Finance sector drives speech adoption. (Special Feature--Voice Recognition & Call Centers).
September 16, 2002... THE BANKING AND FINANCE sector has always led the way in adopting new technologies to improve customer service, drive efficiency and reduce costs. This trend has continued in the case of Natural Language Speech Recognition [NLSR], with...

Automating customer service. (Special Feature--Voice Recognition & Call Centers).
September 16, 2002... A DECADE AFTER VOICE AND DATA communications were supposed to converge, telephones and computers still don't talk with one another easily. What if we could change that by enabling people to talk to the Internet the same way they talk to...

Financial institutions face tough labour market. (Special Feature--Voice Recognition & Call Centres).
September 16, 2002... BEAUTIFUL ONE DAY, PERFECT the next... apparently Queensland's the place to be according to the latest Hallis salary survey for Australia's growing call centre market. But other issues have emerged which are not so sunny, with employers...

Contact centres impact CRM implementation. (Special Feature--Voice Recognition & Call Centres).(Brief Article)
September 16, 2002... AS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS streamline business processes and implement creative strategies to stay ahead in a competitive market, web self-service is increasingly emerging as a key customer interaction channel. However, the Internet has...

Technology extends across multi-channels. (Special Feature--Voice Recognition & Call Centres).
September 16, 2002... WITH THE ADVANCES IN technology being seen in call centres today it is hard to believe that it is over 30 years since the first computer system designed to listen to the human voice and interpret it was invented. At Stamford Research...

Sienna's EBPP product certified with BPAY. (New Economy Banker).(Sienna Technologies, Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment software product)(Brief)
September 16, 2002... SIENNA TECHNOLOGIES CLAIMS to have become the first Australian software company to have its EBPP product certified with BPAY View for use by payer institutions. SIENNA's EBPP solution is BillView Integrator, an open flexible solution for...

Switch delivers cost savings for bankers . (New Economy Banker).(Distra, Australian company; new replacement switching technology)(Brief)
September 16, 2002... DISTRA, AN AUSTRALIAN SOFTWARE company, has developed replacement switching technology that will allow banks and merchants to salvage potential, revenue losses that may result from local credit and debit card industry reform and provide...

It's right under your nose. (the Nielsen/netRatings report).(bank customers, online services)(Brief)
September 16, 2002... BANK CUSTOMERS ACCESSING their accounts through an online channel are proving prime targets for any group setting through the use of an online transactional facility--be it another bank, retailer, funds manager or airline. Their online...

Standardisation a must, Tower. (New Economy Banker).(financial services, report)(Brief)
September 16, 2002... WEB SERVICES HAVE THE POTENTIAL to alter the business environment and competitive landscape within which financial services firms operate and serve their clients. But in order for this vision of business transformation to be fully realised,...

Women power. (People).(panel discussion, women; Australian financial services )(Brief)
September 16, 2002... Australian Banking & Finance newsmagazine presented a panel discussion luncheon featuring four of the most senior women in financial services in Sydney on August 23. The event was moderated by Margaret Throsby and sponsored by Diners Club. ...

The customer interaction--where it really counts; optimizing the contact centre to win and retain customers. (People).(banking and financial sector; Customer Relations Management)(Brief)
September 16, 2002... WHILE TENS OF MILLIONS OF dollars has been spent on CRM technology by organisations within the banking and finance sector, for many companies there is still a lack of understanding of what actually happens at the moment of contact with the...

Behind the screens. (News).(Brief)
September 16, 2002... David Clarke's star sure is shining at Westpac given the recent round of acquisitions by Australia'a first bank, the latest being BT Financial group. And his pay packet will also increase with the level of responsibility he now commands. Some...

Don't hedge your bets. (Datamonitor's Asia-Pacific Insights).(hedge fund regulations to be eased)
September 16, 2002... The Hong Kong and Singapore governments both plan to liberalise the regulations surrounding hedge funds--and fund managers in both territories are already developing new products to sell. But their plans may be doomed. Datamonitor's SIMON...

Symond's second coming.(John Symond claims to be changing home lending industry)
September 30, 2002... JOHN SYMOND CLAIMS TO HAVE mobilised the second wave of change to the $400 billion home lending industry in Australia with a plan designed to "make the banks compete harder, clean out a weak non-bank industry and drive shonky brokers out of...

... fails to impress `former' ally.(Mark Bouris says John Symond no longer fighting against banks)
September 30, 2002... THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF major non-bank lender Wizard Financial Services Mark Bouris claims John Symond has jumped the fence and is no longer an ally in the fight against banks. Bouris said Symond had now drawn the battle lines with Wizard...

CBA proposes move to zero EFTPOS fees. (Current Account).(Commonwealth Bank)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2002... THE COMMONWEALTH BANK IS prepared to support a move to zero EFTPOS interchange fees. But the bank's submission to the EFTPOS Industry Working Group says this was subject to: * Establishing a framework to fund future one-off EFTPOS...

Banking world. (Current Account).(Brief Article)
September 30, 2002... Pedestrians walk past the Citibank retail outlet in Tokyo's Ginza district. Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said the prefecture may shift some of its $14.4 billion of public money to deposits at Citigroup Inc and other foreign lenders unless...

Liberty Financial's $1 billion milestone. (Current Account).(fifth securitisation)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2002... LIBERTY FINANCIAL HAS CRACKED a $1 billion milestone with the announcement of its fifth securitisation of $400 million mortgage backed securities (MBS) issue. In the past year Liberty Financial has issued a total of $1.1 billion of...

Demand for finance jobs on the slide. (Current Account).(study finds job advertisements in Australia for accounting, banking and finance positions fell 45.5% in 2001)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2002... WITH DEMAND FOR ACCOUNTING, banking and finance positions in Australia dramatically decreasing, employees who can manage extra responsibilities will benefit from an increase in salaries, says banking and finance recruitment company, Jonathan...

On the record.
September 30, 2002... "I will still criticise the banks if they need to be criticised. Don't think that this is John Symond getting into bed with the banks." AUSSIE HOME LOANS FOUNDER ON THE GROUP'S MOVE INTO MORTGAGE BROKING. "The whole lending industry,...

S&P confirms AA rating for PMI. (Current Account).(confirms lenders mortgage insurer, PMI Mortgage Insurance's 'AA' rating)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2002... RATINGS AGENCY STANDARD & Poor's has confirmed lenders mortgage insurer, PMI Mortgage Insurance (PMI) `AA' rating, thereby consolidating its place as one of Australia's leading participants and credit enhancers in the mortgage market. S &...

Banks boost internal audit systems. (Current Account).(Brief Article)
September 30, 2002... BANKS ARE BOLSTERING THEIR internal audit systems in the wake of recent corporate accounting scandals, a move that should help shore up investor confidence, the Bank for International Settlements said. "Current events have highlighted the...

Coonan steps up push for employee choice. (News).(Helen Coonan, assistant treasurer senator, advances government's choice of superannuation funds push)
September 30, 2002... ASSISTANT TREASURER SENATOR Helen Coonan has advanced the Federal Government's choice of superannuation funds push, claiming our system would not experience thee problems which have emerged in foreign markets. Addressing an Australian...

Local banks study UK report. (News).(report predicts number of large wholesale banks in Europe may fall to as low as 3)
September 30, 2002... AUSTRALIAN BANKERS ARE discussing a report which predicts the number of large wholesale banks in Europe could fall as low as three, and they will not be part of institutions offering retail banking. According to McKinsey & Co consolidation...

Citibank shows faith in bank association. (News).
September 30, 2002... CITIBANK HAS DELIVERED A BIG vote of confidence in the Australian Bankers' Association by rejoining the group after a three year absence. Citibank quit its membership after the controversial cash-for-comment scandal. Managing director of...

National wins praise for work practices. (News).(National Australia Bank)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2002... THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK was among just a handful of large organisations to be highly commended on their flexible work practices at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) Work and Family Awards ceremony. Now into their...

Budge eyes opportunities: since joining BankWest in 1997, group managing director Terry Budge has overseen the rapid expansion of the regional bank into the east coast of Australia. (News).
September 30, 2002... TODAY, THE COMPANY'S EAST coast business holds 45 per cent of its total asset base and is considered to be a "significant profit earner for the bank". According to Budge, BankWest only holds about 1 per cent of the non-western Australian...

Suit up or ship out. (News).(dress codes)
September 30, 2002... NEW YORK: BEAR STEARNS CO wants employees to suit up or ship out. Two years after adopting a casual dress code at the height of the dot-com boom, the sixth-largest US securities firm has reversed course and will require workers to don...

CBA digital imaging boost. (News).(Commonwealth Bank of Australia)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2002... THE COMMONWEALTH BANK claims to lead the industry with new digital imaging capability for cheques and vouchers. The revolutionary ImageMark(tm) technology, developed by NCR, scans paper items and stores them as digital images retrievable...

Privacy laws revisited. (News).
September 30, 2002... IT IS NOW SEVERAL MONTHS after commencement of the new privacy laws, and it is time to review whether your business is fully complying. Prior to 21 December 2001, so far as the mortgage industry was concerned, the Privacy Act was limited to...

B2B payment cards: bringing efficiencies to corporate and government purchases: purchasing cards. Corporate Cards. Commercial Cards. P-Cards. Fleet Cards. They go by many descriptions and can be configured in numerous ways to meet specific needs. At heart, though, business to business payment cards may be the best tools that purchasing managers have to streamline the inefficient practices found today in the typical purchasing chain. (Advertorial).
September 30, 2002... Many companies have the same expensive, paper-laden, labor-intensive, multi-approval process for purchasing a $56 item as they do for a $56,000 item. Most companies also have a high volume of low-value purchases to contend with, thus...

How to unleash the flow of information in your company. (Special Feature--Portals And Websites).
September 30, 2002... FOR YEARS CONSULTANTS HAVE chewed over the issue of how banks manage their information. Millions of dollars have been invested in implementing workflow, document management and content management systems. Thousands of hours have been spent...

Aggregation services increase in demand: with the number of people using the Internet to manage all their financial decisions, to simplify and speed up access to their important and private financial information, it's no wonder that recent research indicates the demand for aggregation services among Internet banking users is significantly high. (Special Feature--Portals And Websites).
September 30, 2002... In Australia, over 81 per cent * of Internet banking users are demanding aggregation services, while in the UK the demand is as high as 83 per cent **. One Australian software development company, eWise Systems, claims to be fulfilling...

Asia adopts pragmatic approach to STP: as I begin my monthly commentary on STP it seems only right that I start by stating that I too am feeling the STP overload. (STP News).
September 30, 2002... EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK IT'S STP. Market participants are spending lots of time discussing the merits and challenges of STP in their operations. Whole conferences are dedicated to STP along with publications, market research and advertising...

Viewpoint: two respected industry figures have their say. (STP News).(Roger Quek of Sungard Group and Lieven Van den Brande of Capco give views)
September 30, 2002... Q: What will happen to the STP push in Asia now that the US has abandoned t+1? Roger Quek Director of Corporate Marketing Asia Pacific Sungard Group "STP IS SIMPLY A WAY OF REDUCING OPERATIONAL EXPENSES. IT usually involves shutting...

Molten's intelligent solution. (Special Feature--Portals And Websites).(Molten Markets )
September 30, 2002... MOLTEN MARKETS HAS CREATED a market leading financial, intelligence tool that sets a new standard in information management and content aggregation. The Molten Markets financial intelligence toot encompasses a comprehensive, fully-...

Fundamentals critical to success. (Special Feature--Portals And Websites).
September 30, 2002... A GOOD DEAL OF THE PROMISE of enterprise information portals has yet to be realised due to a combination of technology limitations associated with many portal offerings and the lack of process-focused implementations. Many organisations...

E-finance the tip of the iceberg. (Special Feature--Portals And Websites).
September 30, 2002... PORTAL: "A DOOR, GATE OR entrance. Especially one of imposing appearance, as in a palace, a stiff rectangular frame used as the skeleton for buildings and other structures." A few years ago when the major internet portal players of the...

Asian leaders summit. (People).(financial services)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2002... President of New York Life Insurance Sy Sternberg joined speakers Les Hosking chief executive of AXISS and International Finance Corporation's Tim Krause at the Asia Pacific Banking & Finance Leaders Summit, held last month in Hong Kong. The...

Coonan addresses Sydney lecture. (People).(Helen Coonan)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2002... The Assistant Treasurer, Senator Helen Coonan, was the guest speaker at a function organised by Australian Banking & Finance newsmagazine and sponsored by Fuji-Xerox in Sydney on September 12. She spoke on the need for employers to allow...

Behind the screens. (News).(banking industry)
September 30, 2002... Big Aussie John Symond's dramatic change in strategy shocked many in the tending industry, particularly Mark Bouris of Wizard. Bouris told us the move to become a mortgage broker was highly risky and could impact on Aussie's brand and its...

ATM functionality advances. (News).
September 30, 2002... THERE HAVE BEEN SOME interesting developments overseas in relation to the functionality of ATM networks, to allow banks to re-establish brand differentiation. The move has been to introduce new types of transactions and other valued added...