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Steve Austin Well as you know, the Commonwealth Government has made it clear they consider access to cash a priority for the Australian economy and the country’s largest banks, as well as Coles, Woolworths, companies like Wesfarmers and Australia Post have been trying to put together a short term lifeline for Armaguard, who’s the company… Read more »
Natalie Barr And to the cash emergency hitting our country. Emergency talks are being held this week, with our top banks preparing for a potential cash crash. It comes as Australia’s key money supplier Armaguard fights to stay afloat. Spearheaded by the Australian Banking Association, the banks are now pulling together a contingency plan to… Read more »
Andy Park The Reserve Bank is now calling on banks to do more to reduce the impact of these surcharges on businesses and customers. Anna Bligh, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Banking Association, she joins me now. Anna, a billion dollars in card fees, this is having a pretty significant impact on… Read more »
Oliver Peterson: Joining me in the studios today is the CEO of the Australian Banking Association, Anna Bligh. It’s lovely to meet you. Anna Bligh: Great to be here, Oliver. Oliver Peterson: What brings you to Perth? Anna Bligh: Well, I’ve got a few things to do with work here, and I was very keen… Read more »
Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh: Today Australia’s banking system is coming together to launch the most comprehensive set of new anti-scam reforms. With a level of unprecedented cooperation, banks, commercial banks, building societies, credit unions, and mutual banks have joined together to commit to a set of anti-scam reforms to keep Australians and their… Read more »
Ross Greenwood: Well, one industry that does have an effective ombudsman scheme is banking, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, but as rates rise and pressure on households and businesses, managing customers and their debts is again back on the bank’s radar. Today, the Australian Banking Association launched a campaign called ‘Don’t tough it out on… Read more »
Mel Rush: What does it mean if you’ve got uncashed cheques in your wallet? Will they continue to be honored over time? Anna Bligh is CEO of the Australian Banking Association. Anna Bligh good morning. Anna Bligh: Good morning. How are you? Mel Rush: Very well, thanks, Anna. Look, this latest news is a little… Read more »
Hamish MacDonald: A Senate inquiry is examining a wave of bank closures that have hit regional Australia particularly hard. More than 1600 bank branches have closed nationally in the past six years, including 309 in the last financial year. Like post offices and milk bars, bank branches form part of the architecture of regional communities… Read more »
“…we anticipate seeing branches as a part of Australia’s banking system for a very long time. It’s not about closing all branches, but we do expect from time to time, there will be some branches closing as more and more Australians choose to bank differently.”
“There’s no doubt there’s a lot of stress and that’s one of the reasons people are talking to those hardship teams in banks. And I encourage people to do that.”
“Speed is the essence when it comes to getting your money back from a scammer. Even if you’re not sure, even if you just suspect something’s not right, ring your bank as fast as you possibly can.”
“Remember the money and funds available to banks, the majority of them are other people’s deposits. So they need to be very careful about how they use that money. I think there’s a real question there about whether your deposits and your bank should be paying out to someone who decided to take a big investment risk”
“Robbers don’t come with a sawn off shotgun anymore. They come through your phone, and banks are putting their resources where their customers are. And that’s in the digital world.”
“if somebody comes to them in financial difficulty, they can help them set up one of these vetoes. It’s not a difficult thing to do”
“it’s a very competitive environment out there at the moment, there’s about 2400 Australians every single day refinancing every working day, have been for six months, it’s the highest rate of refinance we’ve ever seen in Australia. So you’re right, people are going out and getting a better deal”
“Australian banks are certainly better equipped now than they were in the GFC. They’ve got 2 to 2.5 times the capital reserves put aside for a rainy day than they had in the GFC. And that’s, that’s been 10 years of just gradual build up, required by the regulator put aside by banks. It’s an incredibly strong buffer if things do go rocky”
“What is underpinning this bank failure is a number of things, but not least of all, it’s a very niche bank with high exposure to one part of the economy. And that’s the part of the economy that’s been quite volatile and troubled”
“in two years, there was an 88% drop in the number of cash withdrawals made at that branch, and there was an 89% drop in cash deposits”
Whether you’re in a remote part of the country, or in the middle of a capital city, the data shows us that if you have reliable internet, then people are choosing to bank and do their basic transactions online
KARL STEFANOVIC: Well, they tell us they care but we’re still yet to see any of our major banks give Australian families a break on interest rates amid a deepening cost of living crisis. Calls now growing for the big banks to hold off on passing on rate hikes, and grant us all a reprieve…. Read more »