Desktop Banking
Personal Investment
Wednesday July 31, 1996
Paying bills and keeping watch on his account via the Internet saves
Peter Wallace a lot of time in queues. Beth Quinlivan reports
Peter Wallace has been using Advance Bank's online banking services for about six months. "I use it to check my account balance every couple of days," he says. "In my business, cashflow is critical and anything that helps cashflow management is worthwhile."
Wallace's Premium Focus Promotional Products is the classic small business. Based in Sydney's southern suburb of Roseberry, it provides promotional products for companies of all sizes. His clients range from corner stores to multi-nationals, and the products include the standard sports wear, caps and T-shirts, to the more exotic gifts.
"It is a matter of keeping close watch on the cash position. Having the online facility saves me time. It saves me from going to the bank every couple of days."
Although he is generally happy with the service, he remains a little wary about some apects, particularly security. He is unsure about how easy it might be for others to get access to his accounts.
"The Advance site is good, it was very simple to access, was simple to tap into and offers a range of services. But I still have some reservations about security in Internet banking. Because I look at my account at least every couple of days, I'm confident that if there was ever a security problem, I'd pick it up quickly."
Until he is more confident about security generally, he probably would not be expanding his using of the online system.
"But the ability to transfer money from one account to another, to transfer money to third parties, to pay bills, without having to stand in queues at the local branch - it's definitely the way of the future."
BANKING ON THE WEB
Services available via the Internet vary widely between the banks. Andrea Lane rated their offerings. Sites were ranked on content, ease of navigation, design, relevance, creativity and gadgetry. Rankings are from best (*****) to worst (*).
Advance Bank
(http://www.advance.com.au)
Advance is still the leader because of its Internet banking facilities - the most advanced on the Web (though still limited by security concerns). The site is slick and well-designed with plenty of banking information.
****
Commonwealth Bank
(http://www.commbank.com.au)
Navigation around this site has been greatly improved by making the latest information more prominent. Software enabling banking via the modem (but not over the Internet) is now available to be downloaded. The Commonwealth's is a friendly, well-designed site with a
clear commitment to the future of
online banking.
***
Metway
(http://www.metway.com.au)
Not the slickest site online, but it has plenty of content. The downloadable budget planner (as an Excel spreadsheet) wins the Best Gadget award. Other banks should look to this example of what the Internet does best.
***
St George
(http://www.stgeorge.com.au)
A great looking site with plenty of information about the bank's services, financial markets and rates. A loan calculator is available and the guide to median house prices around Australia is an interesting addition. An index would be helpful.
***
Bank of Melbourne
(http://bankmelb.com.au)
A basic site with few bells or whistles (and still under construction in some areas). Navigation is basic but clear. If the home insurance calculator had actually been a downloadable spreadsheet (see Metway's site) rather than an unusable image, this site would have earned some bonus points.
***
Westpac
(http://www.westpac.com.au)
Not much interaction here but plenty of reading material - a comprehensive guide to Westpac services plus the Economic Bulletin, Commodity Outlook and Investor News. Head straight for the Index to find your way around this site, it's much more helpful than the navigating buttons. The ubiquitous loan calculator is available here as well.
***
ANZ
(http://www.anz.com.au)
They're not trying very hard at ANZ. This is a very static affair, with a rundown of basic services. Strangely, they do run a monthly competition, but little other content is updated.
*
National Australia Bank
(http://www.national.com.au)
The NAB has not embraced this medium. No current info, no interaction. This is purely an electronic financial report.
*
Medal winners
ANZ Commonwealth Westpac National
Internet banking
Web page (www precedes) anz.com.au commbank.com.au westpac.com.au
national.com.au
Home Loan Rates no yes yes no
Term Deposit Rates no yes yes no
Deposit Account Rates no yes yes no
Personal Loan Rates no yes yes no
General Banking Fee Schedule under consideration no personal account
only no
Bank Bill Rates no no no no
Commercial Loan Rates no no no no
Web Rural Banking no no yes no
E-Mail Facility yes yes yes yes
Home Loan Repayment Calculator no yes yes no
Retail Foreign Exchange Rates no yes no no
Other Features Interactive map info on leasing, Business event
calendar, Annual Report,
worldwide overseas trade, economic bulletin Fact
Book,
superannuation, & commodity outlook, profit
insurance and on-line museum, announcement
shares. Have an info for Japanese
existing leasing students, balance
simulator. Daily sheet, deposit
economic commentary calculator, guest book
Source:CANNEX
© 1996 Personal Investment
Share This