Westpac
News and interviews on Westpac including trends, features, blogs and community conversations from an Australian business perspective.
Dollar falls below US98 cents as euro hopes fade: Midday roundupWednesday, 23 May 2012
The Australian dollar has continued to fall, dropping below US98 cents as hopes of any progression in the European debt crisis have begun to dissipate. ...
Who is using behavioural economics?
Monday, 21 May 2012
A question I am often asked is "who is using behavioural economics?". The question is not surprising given we tend to look to what others are doing to help decide what we should do. ...
Big four "couldn't give a toss" about small business: Small Business Minister Brendan O'Connor
Thursday, 17 May 2012
The big four banks “couldn’t give a toss” about providing credit to new enterprises, federal Small Business Minister Brendan O’Connor has claimed. ...
Consumer confidence flat after rate cut, shares fall 1.8%: Midday roundup
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Confidence has risen slightly during May after the Reserve Bank slashed the official interest rate by 50 points, according to the latest figures from the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index. ...
Exporters welcome currency drop as dollar stays below parity, banks slash currency forecasts
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Exporters have enthusiastically welcomed the drop in the Australian dollar to below parity, with industry leaders saying the fall combined with the prospect of even lower interest rates has given the sector a much-needed psychological boost. ...
Balance returning between buyers and sellers in property markets
Monday, 14 May 2012
The level of vendor discounting and the average time on market are important vendor metrics to understand as they provide an insight around selling conditions in the marketplace. ...
Further rate cuts to prop up business confidence, survey reveals
Monday, 07 May 2012
Businesses are confident activity will increase in the short-term partly due to speculation over interest rates cuts, the latest NAB business survey reveals, although conditions have remained poor. ...
The “super-sized” rate cut is good news for business, but banks still hesitant
Wednesday, 02 May 2012
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to cut the official interest rate by 50 basis points yesterday has been hailed as “courageous” by economists but they warn for the cuts to have a positive impact, banks need to pass on the central bank cut and consumer ...
Gloomier for longer: Banker warns on lack of business investment, consumer pessimism tipped to last
Thursday, 12 April 2012
One of Australia’s leading bankers has urged businesses to start investing for the future despite the release of new figures showing Australians are now the least confident they’ve been in the past eight months. ...
Westpac criticised over social media policy after censoring rate rise comments
Monday, 13 February 2012
Westpac has been criticised by social media experts after it was found to have been censoring comments made on its Facebook page by irate customers, after the bank raised mortgage rates despite the RBA keeping the official cash rate on hold. ...
Westpac rapped over “stress free” claims on margin loans – five advertising terms to be careful with
Friday, 02 December 2011
As the global financial crisis showed, margins loans can be stressful thing. ...
Westpac sees rise in demand for credit from medium-sized businesses, but expert says most SMEs are building cash reserves
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Westpac says it has seen an increase in the number of medium-sized businesses taking on debt, despite one expert saying most businesses remain cautious and are building cash reserves. ...
Westpac data centre outage leaves customers stranded without EFTPOS, online banking
Thursday, 05 May 2011
The technical glitches in Australia's banking system have continued, with an outage this morning reportedly leaving Westpac and St George customers unable to access EFTPOS and ATM facilities due to an air-conditioning problem in one of the bank's data centres. ...
Inflation higher than expected, rate rise expectations grow: Midday Roundup
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
The long-awaited inflation figures released this morning have shown a higher-than-expected jump for the March quarter, heightening expectations of an interest rate rise later this year. ...
The banks are back
Thursday, 07 April 2011
The banks are coming back. After spending the last three years restricting and repricing credit for SMEs – and, in the eyes of some entrepreneurs, leaving businesses high and dry – slowing mortgage markets and a recovering economy has the banks looking at the ...
Westpac still leads business banking satisfaction ratings, but smaller lender still in front
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Westpac remains the most popular big-four bank among business customers, according to a new survey, although they remain well behind smaller lenders including Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Macquarie Bank. ...
Mortgage providers fail online test
Friday, 18 March 2011
Australia's banks have experienced a surge in web traffic in the last six months as fired-up mortgage holders take to the internet in search of a better deal. ...
A letter to Gail Kelly and Westpac
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Dear Ms Kelly, I'm a bit peeved. You see, you've announced that you're going to take my bank away and I'm unhappy about not just the decision but the justifications for it. ...
Consumer confidence falls 2.4% in March: Midday Roundup
Wednesday, 09 March 2011
Consumer confidence dropped by a higher-than-expected amount in March, falling 2.4% due to concerns over the Federal Budget, new taxes and rising petrol prices, Westpac said this morning. ...
Bad news for banking returns: Bartholomeusz
Wednesday, 02 March 2011
Yesterday, one of the world's largest banks, HSBC Holdings, announced a massive rebound in its profitability. It also announced, however, that it was significantly reducing its target rate for future returns, sending an ominous message to bank shareholders ...
