Tag Archives: Banks

And now the CBA has woken up and started to fear a GFC 2

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Ralph Norris of the CBA has now finally caught up to what I’ve been saying for months: GFC 2 is on it’s way and it’s coming fast.

Yesterday a very peculiar thing happened in the debt stricken EU, one of the key economies Germany failed to sell its long term bonds shocking debt markets and sparking fears of a national scale Lehman brothers collapse.

Up until now Germany and France have been holding the plug in place in the currency bathtub, keeping the many weaker European states afloat despite the spreading fears of contagion.

Now France’s AAA rating is being questioned and Germany is suffering as investors are steering clear of the Euro only augmenting fears of the region breaking up in disarray.

Now all of this sounds absolutely atrocious, but at the same time I can’t help but to smell a rat. To quote Gail Kelly of Westpac “The various authorities in Europe actually have the capacity to deal with these issues – I certainly wish they’d get on with it and do it”.

At the end of the day Europe has the assets and power to burst out of this. So where is all this ‘recession’ coming from?

This begs the question – will the GFC 2 be rooted in real economic problems or will it be determined by the fund managers and nervous investors.

Regardless I’ve got a sneaky feeling this time Australia won’t be spared!

Your thoughts?

More on why we hate banks: a personal story

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My aunty hasn’t been well lately and as a result the family has been gathering around to help with her day to day activities – one of which has been managing her bills and banking.

Under the mountain of statements and bills we discovered that she had a transaction account where she had $350,000 laying idle earning (get this) a paltry 0.01%pa.

On one hand we were delighted to find this as she now needs the money for some extra care however, we were simply DISGUSTED at her bank for not offering her a higher interest account. Here they were paying her a really low rate and probably earning a lot more when they lend it out.

Our stomachs fell to the floor when we calculated how much interest she could have earned in total over $226,000 in the last 10 years which translates into approx $1887 before tax per month. Now don’t get me started on how much I want to publically hang out to dry the bank in question and the “so called financial planner’ my aunty has. But as far as I am concerned this is a criminal activity. They are effectively stealing my Aunties livelihood.

With all of the new rules and regulations in the financial industry how could this fall through the cracks?

Now it’s personal.

Your thoughts? Has something similar happened to you?

More take, less give: why we hate banks

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It’s that time of year again! The profit results for the ‘big four’ are out and the results are nothing short of jaw dropping!

According to marketwatch.com, Westpac is in the lead with a massive $6.99billion in profit closely followed by the CBA at $6.39Billion. ANZ came in third with $5.36Billion and NAB at the bottom with ‘only’ $5.2billion NET PROFIT. Let me say that again NET PROFIT!

Put these figures together and you’ll see that just the big 4 banks made a staggering $23.94billion in combined profits.

Look I have no problem with banks making profits but I do have a problem with how they continue to market themselves as they live in our world or they give more and take less. What a load of rubbish. They don’t have any idea what it like in our world nor do they give more. Take for example last week’s rate cut by the RBA of 0.25%pa.

3 out of the 4 banks followed suit and passed on the full amount but the bank who has been marketing itself as giving more and taking less was the only stand out. They only dropped 0.20%pa. Hmm whatever happened to the More Give Less Take marketing slogan that NAB has been plastering all over the media to convince us consumers that they are not like the others?

By this action it clearly shows that they are a bunch of hypocrites and should never be trusted. They are all smoke and mirrors.

My thoughts on this are that as consumers we should take the hardest line of all here and be ultra mercenary. Milk whatever bank or financial institution that offers the best deal as much as you can.

There is no such thing as loyalty. Simply switch your banking as often as you can to get more for yourself.

I say we as consumers need to take a leaf out of the books of the banks. Give less and take more!

Your thoughts?

Time to clean up the sinister activities of banks

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Now I don’t have a problem in general with banks making profits and marketing themselves. But I literally see red when I observe unscrupulous marketing and sales activities that have no regard for the short term or long term financial well being of the consumer.

Take this case for instance. Featured in the Sunday Telegraph was a disturbing insight into just how far the ‘Big Four’ will go to get their bonuses even juicier.

Despite already expecting a $24.2bn combined profit this financial year, the banks have released ‘incentives’ for their staff to “double up” their sales of debt based products and insurances to squeeze even more from their ‘customers’.

Not that is so out of the ordinary but what is really on the nose is that these incentives are for their Christmas parties! Yes, you read it right, Their Christmas parties! What has the world come to?

I thought selling financial products knowing that you will receive a personal gain contravenes multiple ASIC rules and regulations..

Look, I’m sure they can find a million ways to get around this and defend it but let’s take a moral stand on this and pose the question.

Is this right for the working Australian? My answer is pretty simple No! And it should be regulated.

What do you think?

Have you recently been approached by an over zealous bank employee that wanted to flog you extras?

Have they completely lost the plot? Are the desperate to make up for some of the lost revenues. Give me a break. Here we are looking to our banks to be the bastion of financial moderation as we see this behaviour.

It pays to speak out

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I received a telephone call last week from a reader who was in a state of panic as the bank was coming later that morning to repossess their home. This person had recently lost their job back and not told the bank.

Being single and having no one to assist in the repayments they repeatedly ignored any letters or phone calls from the bank hoping that they would just give up and go away. Unfortunately the Bank never does and unfortunately it all spiralled out of control and the bank took possession of ther home.

Now, had this person been in contact with their bank earlier, ie soon after they lost their job they may have been able to work out alternative arrangements and avoided this situation. Sure, going to the bank and telling them you have lost your job may be embarrassing but believe me if you don’t you may lose your home and ruin your credit rating. Many Banks have special teams set up to handle this and they will work with you to find out a better way to pay off the loan. In major job loss situations Banks have even come to the party and offered the suspension of repayments for three months without penalty. 

The moral to this story is plain and simple if you lose your job and have a mortgage do not be afraid of going to the bank and telling them. Better go to them first before they come looking for you.

Your thoughts?