Commonwealth Bank is trialling an artificial intelligence-based chatbot that could replace its call centre staff as the company focuses on expanding AI-driven customer service. Called Hey Commbank, the Chat-GPT style system is being tested on employees who are also customers, the Australian Financial Review reports. The initiative forms part of its broader AI strategy in … Read more
Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images) Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said earlier today that inflation is on its way back down to reasonable levels — levels that would permit the Reserve to start lowering the interest rates it sets for overnight lending between banks. That change can effect everything from mortgages to credit … Read more
Bank of Queensland has confirmed mass redundancies, announcing the departure of 400 staff as it concedes its long-serving retail banking operation is “no longer sustainable”. The Brisbane-headquartered company will take control of its 114 owner-managed branches — a decision prompted by customers’ shift towards digital banking in a “simplification of our operating model and management … Read more
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has provided interim authorisation for a $50 million bailout of transporter Armaguard from the country’s biggest banks and retailers. The ACCC approved the bailout on Wednesday. The agreement, funded by the Commonwealth, Westpac, NAB and ANZ banks, along with Coles, Woolworths, Wesfarmers and Australia Post, means Armaguard will … Read more
ANZ has been sanctioned for charging fees to the estates of dead clients, in what the industry’s independent monitor has called a serious breach. The Big Four bank was found to have failed to stop charging, or to refund fees charged to, deceased estates after customers’ deaths. It also failed to respond to requests for … Read more
Westpac exposed its customers to a “high risk of harm” when it suddenly closed an outback branch, leaving hundreds of people to rely on a local charity to access cash, a banking watchdog has found. The bank closed its branch in the NT town of Tennant Creek in September 2022, at first telling the community … Read more
Cash transport company Armaguard has secured its short term future after locking in a $50 million deal with its largest customers. The agreement, funded by Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, NAB, ANZ, Coles, Woolworths, Bunnings and Australia Post, means Armaguard will receive monthly payments in exchange for efficiency and restructuring requirements. Those monthly payments will also come … Read more
Westpac customers can now use their Altitude Points for credit card purchases, in a first for Australian banking. The bank’s new pay with points program allows customers to use their points as money when paying with their Mastercard, without needing to go through the normal redemption process. Customers can now see their points on the … Read more
A Queensland small business has accused its bank of making it “actively difficult” to deal in cash, after facing an “unacceptable” situation where coin deposit machines were down at multiple branches. But the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has rejected suggestions it’s phasing out deposit machines, saying “cash is and will remain an important part of Australia’s … Read more
The pandemic may have released many of us from the tyranny of the five-day-a-week office schedule, but the grip of busy-work culture is proving harder to shake. Wells Fargo this week disclosed that it had fired more than a dozen employees for “simulation of keyboard activity”, citing filings to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Multiple … Read more
