News about the roles of banks and banking in the Australian payments space
Cuscal and ASL this week fired the opening salvos in their emerging war for outsourcing mandates in the mutual banking sector.
Fintech
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NAB has launched its new PayID Receivables service with a little help from Sydney based Fintech Azupay.
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More than 14 months after a government inquiry made a series of recommendations about regional branch closures, the only action has been a publicity stunt by the Australian Banking Association.
Cash
Westpac will slash the entitlements of business customers to free staff-assisted transaction services at the end of August. But that hasn’t stopped the bank from using the offer to lure new customers.
A Westpac survey has revealed new data showing 4pm on Tuesday afternoons is when customers are most likely to fall prey to scammers.
Banks
The ACCC reiterated the vital role that cash plays in the Australian economy at a banking conference in Sydney last week, while the big banks celebrated the rise of digital payments.
A FICO survey of bank risk executives has found that scams and mule accounts are the leading cybercrime threats banks face across the Asia Pacific region, while social media was identified as a key scam channel.
Despite not being subject to AUSTRAC rules, Next Payments has taken its own initiative on illegal tobacco, shaming banks and others that continue to provide terminals. CEO Tim Wildash simply says, "no (tobacco) licence, no ATM".
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Taiwanese financial services giant Fubon Financial has applied for an Australian banking licence.
Regulation
Authentic Security has confirmed its status as an Approved Cash Centre Operator (ACCO) after it was given the green light by the Reserve Bank on July 1st. The announcement coincides with Armaguard being awarded another $25 million lifeline.
ANZ started to turn off a service which was designed to help customers with bill payments and notifications via BPAY, just days after its new CEO, Nuno Matos, took charge.
Digital & Online
Struggling merchant payments provider ANZ Worldline Payment Solutions posted a record loss of $68.9 million in the 12 months to the end of December.
The so-called launch of the ‘Confirm Payee’ anti-scam technology is less than it looks and its hardly the first time the Australian Banking Association had buried the small print.
A new name-matching service designed to help protect customers from being tricked into sending money to criminals was launched today.
In the race for digital-savvy bank executives and AI investment, NAB has pre-announced the appointment of Lloyds Banking Group and former CBA executive Pete Steel to focus on its digital and AI operations, including the “design and customer onboarding” of its digital bank, ubank.
Peter Barrass is one of ANZ’s most successful technology executives after he engineered an overhaul of the group’s institutional payments arm. The bank has now tapped him to join the board of its ailing merchant payments joint venture with Worldline.
CBA is the latest bank to announce AI remedies to scams, this time using a fleet of thousands of fake Aussie consumers to keep scammers busy and disrupt their operations.
NSW Parliament is forming a Select Committee to look at competition reforms in electronic conveyancing.
Australia’s fastest-growing debit card issuer – Macquarie Bank – may have to overhaul parts of its business if the Reserve Bank tightens debit card regulation later this year.
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) has appointed former federal finance minister, Simon Birmingham, as its new CEO.
ANZ has warned Aussies to watch out for tax-related impersonation scams and dodgy offers as the financial year draws to a close.
The world’s biggest bank, US mega bank J.P. Morgan, has joined the Board at Australian Payments Plus (AP+) as it becomes more entrenched in Australian payments.
A2A
Older Australians are particularly vulnerable to a range of new deposit scams, according to Bendigo Bank.
NAB’s HICAPS is being integrated with leading practice management software, Best Practice, to make claiming card transactions and reconciliations faster, simpler and easier for GPs, clinics and patients.
In the past few months, major credit card issuers have made significant changes to their card fleets which impact rewards cards significantly.
