Australia › Australia Guide › Money › Australian Banks

Australian Banks

Where to manage your finances

The major Australian banks with branches in cities and large towns throughout Australia are the WBC (often called Westpac), Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) Bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (majority-owned by the Australian government) and the National Australia Bank, collectively referred to as the big four.

These banks also have the widest representation overseas. There are also many city, regional and state banks.

Building Societies & Credit Unions

Building societies (or permanent building societies to give them their full name) were established in the 19th century to cater for people saving to buy a home. Customers saved a deposit of 5 or 10 per cent of the cost of a home with the building society, who then lent them the balance. A building society would rarely lend to anyone who wasn’t a regular saver, although this policy changed some years ago.

Today, Australian building societies have some 3 million members and nearly $13 billion in assets, although this represents just 5 per cent of the national financial services market. Added competition in the financial sector in recent years (particularly from independent mortgage providers) has made life difficult for building societies, many of which are struggling to survive in their present form. Like banks, building societies have also been raising their fees to offset smaller margins on home loans.

Post Office

GiroPost (styled ‘ giroPost’) is a banking service offered at over 3,000 Australia Post outlets, involving around ten participating banks and dozens of credit unions.

Business Hours

Normal bank and building society opening hours are from 9 or 9.30am until 4pm, Mondays to Thursdays, and from 9.30am until 5pm on Fridays, with no closure during the lunch period in cities and most towns. Some city branches open from 8am until 6pm, Mondays to Thursdays, and until 8pm on Fridays, while in rural areas banks may open on only one or two days a week. Some banks and building societies open on Saturday mornings, e.g. from 9am until noon.

There are bank branches with extended opening hours at international airports and in an increasing number of supermarkets and shopping centres, some open seven days a week. (The major banks have recently established low-cost ‘ kiosk’ branches in supermarkets and shopping centres operated by just one or two people; after initial indifference, these have proved popular and now number over 500.)

All banks are closed on public holidays. Most banks, building societies and main post offices in Australia have 24-hour ATMs at branches for cash deposits and withdrawals, and checking account balances.

Electronic Banking

Australian banks are at the forefront of electronic banking and over half of all bank transactions are made electronically, some banks recording three-quarters of their transactions in this way. Electronic banking includes automated bill payment (BPAY), automated computer banking through dial-up services, automatic teller machines (ATMs), of which there are around 460,000 in Australia, electronic funds transfer, internet banking, smart cards, stored debt cards, telephone banking, and touch-screen customer service terminals. In future, banks will have even fewer branches and it’s expected that almost all banking transactions will be done via a computer or telephone. Video telephone banking will soon allow customers to do business through video contact with centralised bank staff.

Complaints

Complaints against banks run into thousands every year, particularly with regard to excessive fees and charges. Most Australian banks are members of the Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA), which has a Code of Banking Practice that seeks to foster good relations between banks and their customers (provided it doesn’t cost the banks any money), and you should initially make a complaint to the bank.

A banking ombudsman was established in 1989 by the ABA to mediate in disputes between banks and their customers. If you have a dispute with your bank which you’re unable to resolve with them, you can take the matter to the Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman, PO Box 3, Melbourne, Victoria 3001 (Tel. 1300-780 808, www.bfso.org.au ). Members agree to abide by the decision of the ombudsman, although if customers disagree with a ruling they aren’t obliged to accept it and are free to take it up with a consumer affairs department or office of fair trading, or take legal action.