Tag: Channel Preferences

How To Save At Least Six Communities From Bankers’ Bastardry!

An important call to arms with Robbie Barwick from the Australian Citizens Party, aimed at saving SIX bank branches which are ear-marked for closure in the next few days, leaving more communities in the lurch, without property banking services in the community.

In the next fortnight, the big banks which gorge themselves on massive profits from taxpayer support will shut down branches in 10 regional towns around Australia.

Six of those towns will lose their last bank, which will be a massive blow to the local economy and community. They are:

NSW
• Bombala NAB: closing 8 December
QLD
• Dysart NAB: closing 15 December
WA
• Tom Price Westpac: closing 16 December
• Wongan Hills Westpac: closing 16 December
SA
• Mannum BankSA (Westpac): closing 16 December
• Yankalilla BankSA (Westpac): closing 9 December

Please call the Treasurer, and Members relevant to the state in which the branches are located and demand that the Government intervenes to stop this community damage from occurring.

https://citizensparty.org.au/dec-branch-closures-contact

Contact details:
Treasurer Jim Chalmers: 02 6277 7340 (Parliament) 07 3299 5910 (Electorate)
Eden-Monaro MP Kirsty McBain: 02 6284 2442 (Bombala NAB branch)
Capricornia MP Michelle Landry: 07 4922 6604 (Dysart NAB)
Durack MP Melissa Price: 08 9964 2195 (Geraldton) 08 9041 1749 (Merredin) (Tom Price and Wongan Hills Westpacs)
Barker MP Tony Pasin: 08 8531 2466 (Mannum BankSA)
Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie: 08 8398 5566 (Yankalilla BankSA)
Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips: 02 4423 1782 (Vincentia Westpac)
O’Connor MP Rick Wilson: 08 9842 2777 (Collie and Bridgetown Westpacs)
Wright MP Scott Bucholz: 07 5541 0150 (Laidley NAB)

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Local Communities Strangled By Loss Of In-Person Banking – And What You Can Do About It! [Podcast]

We (Dale Webster and I) have written to the Senate Standing Committee on Regional and Rural Affairs and Transport about the economic fallout from the removal of in person banking services across Australia. Today I discuss this with Robbie Barwick from The Australian Citizens Party and the need to lobby Senate members on this important issue.

Our submission is available to view here and download : https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/loss-of-in-person-banking-letter-to-rarat-committee/

And a list of Senators by state is available here: https://citizensparty.org.au/aus-senate

If you care about the economic future of our regional towns and suburbs, then please contact your local Senators and tell them that they should support the initiative, ideally over the next few days, so as to create maximum impact in the final sitting weeks of the year.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
Local Communities Strangled By Loss Of In-Person Banking - And What You Can Do About It! [Podcast]
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APRA And The Mystery Of The Disappearing Branches! [Podcast]

AUSTRALIA’S banking regulator APRA is picking and choosing which banks it is allowing to get away with breaking the law by misreporting whether their sites offer cash service provided by a teller according to an important article in The Regional. Kudos once again to Dale Webster for highlighting this important issue.

Errors in hundreds of minor and foreign bank sites included in the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s points of presence data for years, even decades, have been corrected over the past 17 months after being exposed by The Regional in May 2021.

https://www.theregional.com.au/post/regulator-s-bank-data-inconsistencies-not-adding-up

https://www.theregional.com.au/post/apra-s-clean-up-of-bank-data-errors-leaves-statistics-in-chaos

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
APRA And The Mystery Of The Disappearing Branches! [Podcast]
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Final Chance To Protect Branch Banking

In just a few hours the petition to get Parliament to consider the deep issues around the removal of branch banks – and cash access will expire.

Thanks to our followers who have made the effort to sign it. We saw a big spike in recent days.

If you have not yet make your voice heard, you still have a few hours.

https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN4244

Access to cash, and branch banking should be a civil right, safeguarded by Parliament. Its essential for a vibrant society and for business growth in Australia.

More Government Dirty Tricks In Support Of The Big Banks!

In the ultimate dodgy trick, the final report in to the Taskforce into Regional Banking was snuck out at 4.52pm on Friday evening by the Albanese Government despite the report being a Coalition document overseen by two shadow ministers (Michael Sukkar and Perin Davey) whose current portfolios have nothing to do with treasury, finance, business or regional Australia.

As predicted by The Regional when this taskforce was set up, the final report contains nothing that will save a single bank, with the executive summary’s admission that it received more than 400 submissions “on ways of maintaining and improving banking services” illustrating that the entire exercise was, as the Financial Sector Union described it in 2021, just a “cruel stunt”.

https://www.theregional.com.au/post/regional-banking-taskforce-s-botch-job-is-no-laughing-matter

https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN4244

Regional Australia is down to just 1011 major banks – a figure the taskforce was in possession of, or close to it, but chose not to reveal in preference to a much broader and rosier number provided by APRA, possibly due to an undeclared conflict of interest by Senator Davey.

A new inquiry would hopefully give regional Australians a fair go at saving their last banks and even, hopefully, getting some new ones.

The petition – EN4244 – closes on Wednesday night (October 6, 12.59am) (Sydney).

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

The Ugly Truth About Bank Closures In The Regions

We cover an important article by Dale Webster about the shocking reduction in bank branches in regional and rural areas across Australia. This is going to be a significant election issue, with a new Government report due in about a months time.

Regional Australia has lost close to two thirds of its bank branches since the network was at its peak in the 1970s, according to lists published by the banks that have become the ‘big four’ in 1975.

Numbers have gone from 2802 banks in 1126 regional locations to just 1075 in 387 regional towns, cities and coastal communities in just over 45 years.

That is a loss of 1727 bank branches, or a cut of 62 per cent.

ANZ now has the smallest regional bank network in Australia with just 194 of its original 615 branches outside metropolitan cities still open, a cut of 68.5 per cent.

Westpac has the second smallest regional footprint after slashing 70 per cent of non-metropolitan branches, leaving it with 231 from its original 777.

National Australia Bank has 315 regional branches still open but has closed 445, or 58.5 per cent of its original regional network of 760.

Commonwealth Bank is the only one of the ‘big four’ that still has more regional branches open than it has closed, with 335 of its original 650 remaining open, a 48.5 per cent reduction.

https://www.theregional.com.au/

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Disappearing Branches And Disappearing ATM’s [Podcast]

We look at the latest stats from APRA on branch and ATM networks, both of which are shrinking fast.

https://www.apra.gov.au/authorised-deposit-taking-institutions-points-of-presence-statistics

Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
Disappearing Branches And Disappearing ATM’s [Podcast]
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Bankwest To Close Branches As The Digital Revolution Continues

Bankwest has announced it would close selected east coast branches, as it prioritises its investment in digital and broker/third-party offerings to meet changing customer needs.

There should be no surprise, as we foreshadowed the demise of the branch in our most recent edition of our report “The Quiet Revolution“. We said:

Our research shows that consumers have largely migrated into the digital world and have a strong expectation that existing banking services will be delivered via mobile devices and new enhanced services will be extended to them. Even “Digital Luddites”, the least willing to migrate are nevertheless finally moving into the digital domain. Now the gap between expectation and reality is larger than ever.

This is certainly not a cost reduction exercise, although the reduction in branch footprint, which we already see as 10% of outlets have closed in the past 2 years, does offer the opportunity to reduce the running costs of the physical infrastructure.

Bankwest said:

  • 29 branches will close over a three-week period from 17 August, concentrating Bankwest’s east coast footprint into 14 key branches.
  • Impacted customers are being informed of the closures and will receive guidance on alternative banking options available to them by email, letters and store signage.
  • Closures will affect about 200 colleagues and Bankwest is placing a priority on supporting these people over the coming weeks.
  • The move is the latest step in Bankwest’s strategic refocus (announced March 2017) on evolving and improving its offering to retail and small business customers nationwide.

Managing Director Rowan Munchenberg said rapid changes in the digital space required Bankwest to make important decisions on where to invest to deliver great value for customers and grow nationally.

“Many people still value face-to-face interactions, but customers increasingly expect seamless self-service options that allow them to do their banking when and where they choose,” he said.

“We’re seeing a consistent trend of customers choosing mobile banking over in-branch options for their transaction needs, with an 88 per cent rise in app logins over the past three years.

“So, we’re transforming our organisation to respond more rapidly to these changing customer needs by adopting new ways of working and embracing new technologies.

“But we know we can’t match the major banks’ nation-wide footprint and also deliver world class digital services, so we will prioritise digital channels and broker relationships.

“This change does not impact Western Australia, where our strong brand and established footprint enables us to maintain highly competitive branch and digital offerings.”

Mr Munchenberg said the change had been a difficult decision, given a significant number of east coast colleagues would be affected.

“We will work with and support impacted colleagues in the coming weeks, doing what we can to help them identify other opportunities, be they within or outside of the Group,” he said.

“We are writing to affected customers to outline options, such as using Australia Post’s Bank@Post services and, for business customers, taking advantage of CBA branches.

“Ultimately, this change means we can provide better services to more customers in the future.”

Expect more branch closures in the months ahead as the revolution continues….

Kabbage Reaches a New Milestone of $5 Billion of Funding to Small Businesses In US

Very interesting release from Kabbage, highlights the growth of lending to small business online, and outside banking hours. Another example of the digital revolution well underway. 24/7 access rules…!

ATLANTA – June 28, 2018 – Kabbage, Inc., a global financial services, technology and data platform serving small businesses, reports its 145,000-plus small business customers accessed over 300,000 loans during non-banking hours, reaching a record total of more than $1 billion in funding. In total, Kabbage has now provided access to more than $5 billion in funding to its customers across America. The non-banking hour analysis illustrates how Kabbage’s fully automated lending solutions remove the age-old hurdle of normal business hours by offering companies 24/7 access to working capital online.

“The findings illuminate the true around-the-clock nature of business owners,” said Kabbage CEO, Rob Frohwein. “While we wish small business owners could reclaim their nights and weekends, we built Kabbage to allow business owners to access funds on schedules convenient to them, not us.”

Economic Impact of $5 Billion

A new report from the Electronics Transactions Association (ETA), in partnership with NDP Analytics, a Washington, D.C.-based economic research firm, finds that for every $1 provided to small businesses via online lending platforms, including Kabbage, results in $3.79 in gross output in local communities. The study provides context to how the new milestone of $5 billion provided through Kabbage has helped to stimulate the U.S. economy.

After-Hours Lending on the Rise

The total number of dollars accessed through Kabbage outside of typical banking hours increased more than 6,000 percent between 2011 and 2018. The growth illustrates small business owners are increasingly comfortable accessing capital online, and they rely on the convenience of managing cash flow needs any time of day, particularly outside of open business hours for most banks. Non-banking hours in this analysis represents the local time between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. on the weekdays, and the full 48 hours over the weekends.

Weekday vs. Weekend Lending

The majority of after-hour lending (64 percent) was accessed during the work week, totaling $754 million. The remaining 36 percent occurred on Saturdays and Sundays, totaling $429 million. The data is a nod to the dedication of business owners as more than one-third extend their work weeks to handle cash flow needs even on the weekends.

About Kabbage

Kabbage, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, has pioneered a financial services data and technology platform to provide access to automated funding to small businesses in minutes. Kabbage leverages data generated through business activity such as accounting data, online sales, shipping and dozens of other sources to understand performance and deliver fast, flexible funding in real time. With the largest international network of global-bank partnerships for an online lending platform, Kabbage powers small business lending for large banks, including ING and Santander, across Spain, the U.K., Italy and France and more. Kabbage is funded and backed by leading investors, including SoftBank Group Corp., BlueRun Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Thomvest Ventures, SoftBank Capital, Reverence Capital Partners, the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, ING, Santander InnoVentures, Scotiabank and TCW/Craton. All Kabbage U.S.-based loans are issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah-Chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC. For more information, please visit www.kabbage.com.