>>If bank fees are high, as you seem to be saying, bank branches
should be profitable if they have custom. Bank branches have been
closed down, are being closed down and will continue to be closed
down because the fees from branch use is less than the costs of
providing the branch services.
If their services are so vital people will be prepared to pay for them
in sufficient numbers and at sufficient prices to keep then profitable
to keep open.
Nope. It's still more profitable to close down the bank branch and
increase fees, especially for the Commonwealth Bank because a large
proportion of their customers won't bother to change accounts.
>>Don't give me this "Rural and Regonal Australia" bullshit. People
have
geographic mobility and free migration within and between the states
and
can move if they are jealous.
There is no variation between the states that I'm aware, so moving
within the country won't get you less crooked banks or better
interest rates.
>>If you want to live out in the middle of nowhere don't advocate
taxing
me in Sydney to pay you the dole 'cause there is no work where you
live,
to fix up your house/property/farm 'cause you live where it floods, to
provide your children with extra subsidies for their schooling etc.
etc.
Thats a whole other issue, and not related to the banks here being an
anti-competitive rip-off.
>>You can deposit cash at ATMs and branches have quick drop off
systems
for cash deposits. Cash security is a merchant responsibility and the
efficient allocation of resources results from individuals and
businesses looking after their own security, bearing the costs and
benefits of their security choices.
Most non-branch ATMs won't accept deposits. Cash security being a
merchant responsibility is another way of saying that business has an
extra expense thanks to the banks cutting services that were
previously provided to customers.
>>Complete bullshit. A telephone costs just $12.05 a month to
maintain and
telephone banking can be accessed via a 1800 service. Everyone who
wants
one and does not have a bad credit rating can get a phone, the cost is
trivial (well I spend a fortune on telecommunications but that is
because i have cable internet, cable tv, a land line and a mobile but
access to telephone services is very cheap). If you are blind you can
use telephone banking, if you are deaf you can use internet banking,
if
you are both then get someone else to help you. If you are too old to
think and act in your own interests, then don't blame the banking
system
or the government because it doesn't help. Average waiting times for
telephone customer services are typically much shorterer then at a
branch or at a supermarket, I find.
Great. However other countries have all these things, without the rip-
off anti-competitive banks we have here.
>>If you want to deposit large amounts of coins,
these are not legal tender for their face value under Australian law,
you may have to take them to the Reserve Bank for exchange into notes.
This is technically true, however banks have traditionally accepted
them as a service to their customers. I once had this problem many
years ago when I tried to pay for my 30c tram fare with the
collection of 2c coins I had collected and the cheerful conductor
(much nostalgia, all of this is now ancient history) refused to
accept them. I consequently declined to buy a ticket and travelled
for free.
There's a very funny story behind this, the reason they brought in
that law was a guy who had to pay his wife child support payments
every month, and he did so by filling a hogshead barrel of treacle
with an appropriate number of pennies every month. I believe money
has to be clean to be legal tender also.
>>No point paying taxable interest on balances used for transactional
purposes when transaction and/or account fees are much larger. It is
better to pay no interest, or trivial interest and have lower fees.
You seem to be missing my point. For centuries money held on deposit
by the banks has earned interest for the owner who deposits the money
with the bank. The reason, of course, is that the bank wisely invests
the money and lends it to others at a higher rate of interest.
However the banks still lend out the money, and probably earning
higher returns than ever before in history, while charging you for
the privilige of borrowing it from you.
>>The government does influence credit conditions and the macro-
economy
but the market allocates financial capital. The Commonwealth Bank was
>From your original 'point 6'
6. Government does not influence the allocation of credit in the
economy, own any commercial banks or bear bank risk or insure
deposits.
So you contradict your first assertion.
>>privatised by the Commonwealth Government a long time ago and it is
It wasn't that long ago, less than 10 years. Which was outrageous as
the original idea of the Commonwealth bank was as a 'people's bank'
to offer some competition to the robber-bankers of the forties.
>>The Reserve Bank of Australia DOES NOT insure
banks or deposits, although it may act to assist a distressed bank,
Yes, it does. That's the whole point of having it. Try looking at the
Reserve Bank act sometime. You are probably (to be charitable)
getting mixed up between banks, which are insured, and building
societies such as Pyramid, which aren't.
sooner than 4 weeks? And at what cost?
>>I haven't tried to clear such cheques, in fact I have only ever
banked
one cheque into an Australian bank in my life.
Great. So you're speaking from a position of great experience dealing
with banks then? It seems most of your dealings are via the Internet
of phone, and not via branches which are the major gripe.
>>I found it very easy to open an account in November 1999 when I
arrived.
Just walked in, filled out a form, showed 2 forms of ID made a small
opening deposit. In 2000 I opened a cash management trust account with
Great. Not so long ago the government didn't mandate requiring 100
pts of ID, if the bank was willing to let you open an account they
were free to do so. This has now crept into other types of accounts,
such as TAB accounts, etc.
Naturally the ID you need has to come from the Government, requiring
you to run around doing various paper shufflingfor the benefit of
incomeptent beaurocrats. And for someone so concerned about tax
transaction fees, you don't seem to mention the government mandated
Tax File Numbers for accounts. Of course you don't have to provide
your TFN, however they will tax your earnings (wages, interest) at
49%.
>>I don't like the New Tax System and i don't like the old tax system
because
We agree on something.
>
> >10. Account keeping fees are moderate on most types of transaction
> accounts ($10 a month gives me 25 free transactions per month with
my
> Westpac account).
$10 a month for 25 free transactions. What a great deal! It's like
the free video, just send $29.95.
>>snail mail? paper cheques? what for? If you have a job you can get a
credit card (just tender some pay slips as proof of income, show 2
forms
You are talking about how wonderful banking in Australia is, then
freely admit you don't use much of it. Cheques are a staple of
business. If you can't see why, then I can't be bothered explaining
such simple stuff. Do an Open University course on how the economy
works or basic business training or something.
>>consumer, that is). And before you mention fraud and other problems
with
credit cards, these are a problem for the merchant and hardly for the
card holder.
Not necesarily. A lot of people, who I guess are stupid and/or naive,
actually pay the bills others run up on their cards. X rated site
billing is a prime culprit. And merchant losses are taken out on the
consumer by higher prices, or the merchant will cease trading or
refuse to take CCs. Fraud is a BIG problem for everyone.
New Books at Discount Prices
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