We have banked with the ANZ bank since the early 1980s. While it has served my businesses well, I do not feel that it respects or appreciates our business.
We recently paid off a funding arrangement just a few months early and they decided to not exercise discretion to waive a sizeable (thousands of dollars) early payment fee.
We deposit considerable funds every week through my businesses yet there is no respite to their various fees and changes.
A quick look around suggests that we may be able to do better. So, we are looking around at our banking options.
I noticed favourable newspaper coverage for the new (returning?) Bank of Melbourne earlier this week. The reports indicate that they are courting businesses with deals and offers.
We plan to thoroughly research our banking options and weighing up all associated costs in pursuit of a more economically viable banking relationship for my businesses.
I’d be interested to hear from anyone with what they consider to be a good and financially rewarding banking relationship.
Any loyalty I felt to the ANZ evaporated when they used their discretion to not waive a fee which I considered unreasonable.
Hi Mark,
I am with NAB. They are OK but not great.
I don’t know how they compare to the others.
We are also looking to switch from ANZ after they refused to pass on rate cuts to our business loan and then increased them over and above the RBA increases. Our business banking manager said they would not negotiate on the rate or on the hefty fees they charge. As soon as our eofy reports are complete we will be shopping around.
We started with ANZ and partners. When we split from partners they had sway with ANZ and ANZ dumped us. NAB were happy to take us on. I disliked that a customer of the ANZ could influence the business manager to
call in our loan, we have not gone out of business like the ANZ told us we would 12 years ago !!
iam with nab, put you $ in bus. maximiser a/c to get better interest.
Not much help to you in Melbourne Mark but i switched from CBA (Crooks, Bastards and Assholes)to The Bank of QLD. What a delight to actually have a person to deal with on a face to face level. BOQ branches are owned and operated by individuals and my two guys have been great. The big four think people wont move because it is too hard, it is a considerable thing to do but not impossible. Personally i would urge all business owners to ditch the big four…..but that is just my opinion.
We moved from Wetspac (who I’d been with since I was kid) for the same reasons. They showed no flexibility and do not reward loyalty.
Believe it or not, we went with the local building society! They gave us an unsecured overdraft, their fees were far lower and the staff were fantastic.
Consider a building society or credit union, especially if the branches are close to the shop.
Yep, the ANZ are bastards. Never again, for home loan, personal, or business.
We’re with the ‘community’ bank. Service is great. Policies and products are ok, but not real flash. Better than the big ones, tho – even if they’re owned by one of them.
We’re currently with CBA but looking around too. Not happy with the service we’re getting at the upper levels. Our local branch are lovely, but the business banking mob and hopeless!!
Check out the Bank West product options. Not sure if it’s the most suitable, but the “Business Zero Transaction Account” appears to have no monthly fees, no transaction fees – including over the counter transactions.
Though where you can really save money is your eftpos/merchant a/c fees. Not sure how BW compares there.
mark & others, now is the time to seriously consider having our own bank.
we can do it as i am sure investors would jump on the idea. we could open 4000 + branches & regain our retail point of difference & be once again the focus of our communities. we can start from nothing or buy a controlling interest in a small financial institution. we can slowly fade away or do something remarkable. what other bank opens at 6am to 6pm 7 days a week.? what would the increased foot traffic be like to a newsagencies cashflow.? what affect would it have on the value of your business.? any positive, pro active people interested.?
David,
I think most newsagents would cringe at the internal security, processes and high level of compliance involved in financial institutions. And my understanding is that in-person banking in another market on the decline. Im not sure about others here but I certainly do all my personal banking online and have done for years. I also do all my business banking online (usually through MYOB M-Powered services). The only time I see the inside of a bank is when I need to open an account or require a bank cheque.
David
Ideas like your one is a good one, I like it in theory and in a perfect world it could work. A financial institution called Bendigo Bank has actually done something similar to this mainly due to financial institutions pulling out of Communities.
I like the idea of the hours availiable for trade and all that comes with foot traffic, never say never though.
Jarryd everyone has their own opinion, I respect that you do online banking, my view is while I can still set foot in a bank thats the way I do my business. I have experimented online banking, fantastic however I have security fears about it.
Mark – Could not recommend any Bank as you should be able to negotiate better terms considering your situations. My recomendation is to stay with ANZ after you go all the way to the Top if you have too and receive your refunded fee, I agree 100% with what you have written. We have to stand up to bullies and promote your case of loyalty.
We bank with St George, their customer Service is above average.
Derek,
Regardless of my opinion, the trend away from traditional towards online banking is very evident in the marketplace. It is not disimilar to print media, books or music.
http://www.roymorganonlinestore.com/News/1346—UInternet-Banking-Surpasses-Branch-Visitati.aspx
We’re Australia Post, so we are a bank as well (giropost and a CBA agent).
It does generate foot traffic, but a lot of that traffic is just making a withdrawal and walking out again. Some incidental sales do come with it.
I think the security issues and the compliance stuff would put a lot of newsagents off. Just having the sizable cash float on the premisies can be issue enough for some people.
We had a sub branch for one of the building societies in our store a while ago but it was more trouble then it is worth, as vicky stated we got very little add on sales and a lot of complience issues. I would not recommend it ATM’s are easier.
we are a mini branch for a building society and it is not that much of a drama for compliance at all . the rent comes in handy ,
We have a Westpac Instore in our shop.It definitely is worth it. Not that much effort.
Jarryd
The article has statistical information about increased internet banking. It also has some “buts” in it also such as loss of personal interface as well as users personal information dissemination to whom wants to buy it.
I just hope the people who hack and disrupt internet banking via external & internal means do not get a vendetta against one of our banks.
It is not coincidental that the NAB & CBA have had disruptions this year.
I dont think in my view that internet transactions or ATM transactions have the necessary security systems / measures but yet it is a growing market.
I wonder though if a ATM could be an opportunity for Newsagency Leaders to consider regarding diversity, particularly in regional areas.
Anyway Mark let us know how you go with your problem.
The ANF offered an ATM solution years ago. newsXpress is currently trialling an ATM solution. I am sure other newsagents play in this space too. In a high street location it makes sense for traffic, revenue and safety of customers.
We purchased this business with finance from the Bank of Melbourne but once it changed to a Westpac branch everything went south. Lots of talk, no real help. We changed to St George and were dismayed when Westpac took them over but they have remained independent and been reasonable and helpful to us.
I think it is the St George branches being re badged as Bank of Melbourne, if it is only a name change I’m sure we’ll be satisfied to stay with them.
I’m similar to Vicki in having an Aus Post counter however I do see quite a bit of business from people using the agency banking services cross over to the post office. Alot of the oldies come and get their money on pension days from the post counter and then proceed to the news counter to purchase mags and the like.
Regarding banking , I’m with CBA and have found them to be generally very helpful with the local branch being absolutely terrific. I had an issue where I was recently approached by another bank offering better EPOS fees. I’d contacted CBA business services by phone to see if they could match and had not heard anything back. I mentioned this to my bank manager and had a call back within 15 minutes and got a better EPOS rate !
we just moved from ANZ to CBA mainly because the service level in the branch went to poop. when i complained, the service got worse. easy fix was to move.
the CBA branch have been great, although it must be said, we have very simple banking needs.
the branch manager was very helpfull over the school holidays though, and took my son out back to look at the safe and and answer all his questions about where his dollarmite money goes. he had huge reservations that his money would get mixed up with other peoples money, and what if he wanted his money back to buy a soccer ball or something?
with the CBA we also have the option to do some simple banking at the post office over the road, which helps.
Derek,
To my knowledge, no bank has ever even hacked externally without inside information.
Just as some try to electronically steal from bank accounts, there are some who work in branches that will try to do the same thing. Does this mean we all horde our cash in shoe boxes under the bed? Of course not
Over the past couple of years we’ve been seeing significant increases in security related to e-commerce and e-banking. Financial institutions continue to invest heavily in improving this.
The loss of personal interface is a given when talking about anything e-related and is an accepted, sometimes even welcomed, part of the change.
But regardless of either of our personal view of the security surrounding electronic transactions, the statistics are very clear. Traditional banking is on the decline while electronic banking is on the rise.
as it happens, when I got home last night hubby said NAB had rung him, they detected a 94cent transaction on our credit card and were replacing
our cards immediatley. They said there is a bot trawling random numbers and withdrawing 94c, when they get a hit they know they have a true account number and can proceed to take more dosh later.
I still haven’t managed to get bags of $2 coins and $5 notes from my internet bank…..