Banks and Banking

Decision Deadline One Step Closer

myvestaau — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:22:58 -0500

It is generally assumed in Australia that banks and lenders have access to a person's full credit history however this is not the case. Australia is currently one of four countries in the developed world (the others being New Zealand, France and Italy) still operating under a negative reporting system. Under this system, banks and lenders only have access to past customer applications for credit, and whether a default has occurred in the past five years. This means they don't have as much information as they should when assessing a credit applicant's true ability to repay a loan.

Rising Interest Rates Inflict Acute Pain On Australian Homeowners

myvestaau — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:48:34 -0500

Acute pain is being experienced by Australian homeowners Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters. Rising interest rates and the credit crisis are putting more pressure on homeowners.

Citigroup Ends Up With Egg On Its Face

myvestaau — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:46:32 -0500

Egg, the internet bank in the UK, owned since May 2007, by US giant Citigroup, has within the last few days Egg's given a number (7% or 161,000) of its credit card customers notice that it is ending their credit card agreements. This is about the bank off loading people who they can't make money out of. That includes people who always pay back in full and on time.

Banking Ethics: Why Are They Different?

Steve Rhode — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:43:25 -0500

My background in medicine taught me at an early age that the ethics of medicine are to do no harm to the patient and put the patientâ€™s needs first. If medicine was only about the rate of financial return then more patients would be put through unnecessary tests to generate income or given medicines that provided financial incentive to the doctor. We view those situations as wrong and unethical.

A Remarkable Situation With Australian Bank Staff. "We won't push products on debtors!"

Steve Rhode — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:34:12 -0400

Australian Bank Westpac has an interesting staff revolt on its hands. The employees are standing up and saying it is not right for the bank to force them to sell financial loans and products on a growing population of over indebted Australians.

Bank employees raise a very valid and interesting argument that they are being forced to not act I the best interest of their community and citizens of Australia because they feel that pushing high-risk financial products onto vulnerable customers is not the mark of a good neighbor or citizen with a conscience.