http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/banks/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/postman-pat-leaves-bureaucrat-bob-behind/ Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Hey, maybe this “World Wide Interwebs” thingymajig could be worth looking into. What if this fancy-sounding “Electronic Mail” stuff takes off?! More than two decades after the internet started linking homes and businesses throughout the world, Australia Post finally acted on that thought yesterday. “Digital MailBoxes” are going to be made available to all Australians later this year. Basically, they’ll be a one-stop shops for sending secure emails, paying your bills and getting in touch with service providers like banks. And in recognition of the fact that close to half of Australians have shopped online, they’re also bringing in “super-stores” with 24-hour zones where people can post and collect parcels. A great idea when more Australians are buying more online than ever and more Australians are getting irritated because they’re unable to pick up their UrbanOutfitters singlet or kayaking implement between 9 and 5. If only the rest of the government would join in. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/postman-pat-leaves-bureaucrat-bob-behind/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/postman-pat-leaves-bureaucrat-bob-behind/#item8100 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/interest-rate-barney-barely-even-rates-as-interest/ Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/interest-rate-barney-barely-even-rates-as-interest/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/interest-rate-barney-barely-even-rates-as-interest/#item7700 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-an-inquiry-into-this-bunch-of-bankers/ Poor old bankers. They keep telling us how tough it is for them with their funding costs expected to go up and how they will need to keep interest rates inflated. And if the crying poor line isn’t enough the banks are quick to tell us that we are “picking on them” if we have a debate about how poorly they behave especially when the RBA changes the official interest rate. Perhaps the “we’re doing it tough” line would carry some weight if the big banks didn’t show record profits year after year and if the banks’ CEOs weren’t getting such big pay packets year after year. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-an-inquiry-into-this-bunch-of-bankers/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-an-inquiry-into-this-bunch-of-bankers/#item7543 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/wayne-shut-your-jawbone-and-show-some-backbone/ Wayne Swan has made a mockery of his Finance Minister of the Year award in his dithering, spineless effort at pressuring the banks to do the decent thing on interest rates. Swan went into half-arsed PR mode yesterday, using the media to spruik the line that the Big Four banks should drop interest rates 0.25 per cent in line with the RBA’s 0.25 per cent cut in the official cash rate. He could have, and should have, done more. His role is not to lamely express dismay on our behalf. He is the Federal Treasurer. He has contacts. At moments like this, he should personally contact the Big Four bank chiefs and threaten all manner of medieval punishments if they fail to pass on the rate cut, the whole rate cut and nothing but the whole rate cut. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/wayne-shut-your-jawbone-and-show-some-backbone/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/wayne-shut-your-jawbone-and-show-some-backbone/#item7326 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-left-wing-protest-against-left-wing-problems/ One of the favoured chants of the Occupy Wall Street protesters is “This is what democracy looks like”. It’s an unusual definition of democracy, predicated on an impertinent belief that stopping people from going to work or abusing them for wearing suits is a central tenet of the democratic process. The protests, which started in Lower Manhattan two months ago as a demonstration against corporate greed, have now been replicated in many of the bigger cities throughout the world. In Melbourne protesters and police scuffled a couple of times, with dog squads and mobs coming face to face. Protest sympathisers say the cops have been too rough, while the cops say the crowds had fair warning they would be dragged away if they didn’t leave voluntarily. Martin Place in Sydney has been another venue for occupation, albeit an occupation which sputtered to an early halt when the anarcho-syndicalist catering collective failed to lay on any food for the demonstrators, many of whom promptly called it a night and went back to Mum and Dad’s in Paddington for dinner. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-left-wing-protest-against-left-wing-problems/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-left-wing-protest-against-left-wing-problems/#item6977 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/back-off-scammers-youre-barking-up-the-wrong-tree/ Have I got SUCKER tatooed on my forehead? Or a big bulls-eye and the words “easy target” pinned to my back? Not last time I checked, but that doesn’t stop the scammers from trying some very obvious tricks to part me from my cash. The lonely Russian girls have finally given up after coming to the conclusion I wasn’t their passport to a new life of riches - but their Russian Mafia bosses and Nigerian cousins haven’t. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/back-off-scammers-youre-barking-up-the-wrong-tree/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/back-off-scammers-youre-barking-up-the-wrong-tree/#item6732 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Ignore-the-crash-and-have-some-beer-and-skittles/ Share market panics are scary and absolutely no-one knows for sure where they’ll end up. The smarties will talk about buying bargains now because Australia’s future is more linked to China than the US or Europe, and how our economy is much better placed to ride out any financial storms than the rest of the world. They’re right. BUT share market panics are not logical. They’re driven by emotion and almost impossible to predict. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Ignore-the-crash-and-have-some-beer-and-skittles/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Ignore-the-crash-and-have-some-beer-and-skittles/#item6462 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-banks-live-in-my-world-im-moving-to-mars/ I know what you’re thinkin. You’re thinkin you want your bank to stop listening to focus groups and its marketing department and to stop telling us stuff it thinks we want to hear. You’re thinkin that the next time your bank raises interest rates by more than the Reserve Bank’s official 0.25 per cent, you’re going to walk into your local branch and dump a bag of horse manure in the revolving doors. You’re thinkin that the ANZ recently spent $15 million to change its logos from three stripes to one stripe with a blue flower thrown in for good measure, and that Aussie Hollywood superstar Simon Baker can’t have come cheaply either. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-banks-live-in-my-world-im-moving-to-mars/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-banks-live-in-my-world-im-moving-to-mars/#item6293 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bank-error-in-your-favour/ When I was 9, I found a $20 note on the ground. Back then, it was an astronomical amount of money for a nine year old.  And as I glimpsed it, beneath a moving crowd, I stopped dead in my tracks, staring and pointing until mum yelled ‘Just pick it up!’. Then, something even better happened. Mum said I could keep the money.  Suddenly, I was rich.  I clutched it in my sweaty little hand all night.  I put it lovingly in a black case and checked on it every day.  And then when my birthday came around, I spent it on an extravagant doll from Big W. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bank-error-in-your-favour/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bank-error-in-your-favour/#item5286 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/owning-an-atm-is-money-in-the-bank/ Each and every day millions of Australians pay financial institutions to access their own money. Some pay more while others pay less, depending on the way they do it. Sometimes, as with EFTPOS transactions, the price consumers pay for their own money is largely invisible, being factored into the prices of goods and services. In other cases, the cost of using your own money is embedded in bank fees, or else in forgone interest from transaction accounts with negligible rates of interest. One of the most expensive ways for Australians to access their own money is by using a third-party automatic teller machine - that is, an ATM not provided by their own bank. In most cases, third-party ATMs charge $2 for every transaction, including checking one’s account balance. In other words, $2 is the price consumers pay every time they are disloyal to their bank. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/owning-an-atm-is-money-in-the-bank/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/owning-an-atm-is-money-in-the-bank/#item5159 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place?