Google Scares Aussie Banks

mask.of.sanity writes "Google could be the biggest threat to Australia's big four banks because of the trust online users place in it and its ability to engage with customers, banking executives say. They told an audience from the finance sector that companies like Google and PayPal are more responsive and trusted than banks, and cited emerging technology with an emphasis on online applications as a means for the smaller credit unions to challenge the position of incumbent banks. It's welcome news for Australia's credit unions: the nation's banks have taken turns in being the first to lift interest rates above the official reserve bank rate, with others collectively following suit, leading some to speculate they are in collusion."

Comments

"Responsive and trusted"

[mr_mischief]

Perhaps there's some cause and effect going on there. Companies that are more responsive to customer demands and concerns are, in my experience, more trusted by the customers. Perhaps the banks have already figured out how to compete and just don't realize it yet because being competitive cuts into profit margins.

Australias net banking is actually damn good

[SpazmodeusG]

Australia's online banking systems are actually really good. Better than anything I've seen in the USA.

Now before any fellow Australians mod me down for saying that let me just say I've spent some time in the US. We really do have it good compared to what I've seen of their systems. In the US if you want to view the full history of your online banking you have to seriously pay a fee. Americans actually think it's normal to not be able to download the past years account transaction history with a few clicks without paying for it. You can't download PDFs or CSVs of an account via the online banking systems i used in the USA. Direct deposit to other accounts isn't nearly as easy as it is here either - I'm sure i'm not the only one who buys goods from Australian websites via Australian Direct Deposit rather than a credit card or paypal service.

Disclaimer: Most of my experience has been with Combank but i know the other Aussie banks are similar - the online banking systems here are pretty damn good. Now if only the home loan rates were a bit more reasonable here in Australia (currently pushing over 7% and rising).

Re:Australias net banking is actually damn good

[metrix007]

Nah. I'm Australian and have a current account with ANZ and CUA, and used to have an account with Suncorp. In the US I have been with BoA and Chase. I can have transaction history for any period I choose, for free, and if I go into a branch the fee might be $2 or so, same as in Aus.

The main area the US is behind almost every other country in is direct deposit. I can't easily send money to someone elses account. Most countries have some equivilant of our BSB/account number setup, but not the US. Hell, they still have to use checks for most stuff.

The other interesting thing is that when paying with a visa/mc debit or credit card....no one checks for id, I don't need to put in a pin nor sign anything. If you steal someones card then its free reign till its called in and cancelled. I find that interesting.

Re:Physical access

[John Saffran]

There'll always be people who prefer walking into a building to do their banking, but for the rest it's entirely possible to have a non-physical bank.

To take the example of ING, they used to rely purely on online and phone banking (ie. no physical branches period) but have now added the post office network for physical needs and rely on other bank's ATMs for physical money withdrawal. Of course an online bank would need to have excellent reliability on their online systems and excellent customer service on their phone centres, but if you have both then what's the big deal?

Frankly, if a bank is untrustworthy it doesn't matter whether they're physical or purely virtual .. to follow-on from your example, there's nothing to stop a bricks-and-mortar bank from closing your account and giving you the run around, being able to walk into a branch won't change that one iota.