Credit Card Deals from NAB
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What is the NAB? Date Published : Monday, February 25, 2008
Source : Credit Card News from Money AU
Many Australians have heard of the National Australian Bank, or NAB as it is better known as. But many do not know its global status as one of the most powerful homegrown companies to ever come out of Australia.
The NAB has a history dating back to 1893, when it was formed under the name of the National Bank Limited. Up until 1981, it grew steadily, trading as The National Bank of Australasia when, in October of that year, it merged with the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney and was renamed as National Australia Bank.
Until 1981, the financial institution had a very large presence in Victoria, with Tasmania and Western Australia also helping the business grow. It only opened a branch in Queensland 30 years after the bank was first formed.
Since 1981, however, the bank has grown from strength to strength and is now one of the world's top 30 financial services companies, with total assets reaching $457 billion in 2006.
The NAB runs the MLC wealth management division in Australia, the Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank brands in the UK and the Bank of New Zealand.
Today, the NAB offers customers savings accounts, superannuation funds, transactional accounts, credit cards and a range of personal and home loans.
Earlier this year, it announced it would get rid of exit fees on its home loan products, with NAB executive director Ahmed Fahour saying: "The clear home loan is yet another step that will address customer, government and community concerns about fees and provide a truly different home lending option."
Australian Finance News
Australian Banks Continue To Battle For Deposits By Offering High Introductory Rates
Australia’s largest banks are using high introductory online savings rates to attract retail deposits and expand their deposit bases. Despite the high introductory rates, the lenders later aggressively cut back their deposit rates in order to preserve their profit margins.
The investment bank Macquarie conducted an analysis of the online savings market which found that the big four Australian lenders, as well as some international rivals were offering introductory rates that were as much as 200 basis points higher than the 4.5 per cent official cash rate.
QBE Denies Chief Executive To Step Down
Australian insurance major QBE has moved to end speculation that its chief executive is poised to step down. QBE chief Frank O'Halloran has run the company for the last twelve years, and the insurer says that he would continue in that role "for the foreseeable future".
Rumours of Mr. O’Halloran’s departure ricocheted around the insurance industry this week, when speculation began to emerge that Mr. O’Halloran would hand over the reigns of the company to Peter Harmer, a senior executive at insurance broker AON.
Research Firm Says ANZ Offers Best Value For Small Business
Australian banking major ANZ, has been named by a financial research firm as the lender which provided the best value banking service for small business. Despite the accolade, ANZ has not managed to convince all the decision makers in the business sector, and still lags behind rivals.
Canstar in issuing the award said certain product features that matter a great deal to small business provided by ANZ including credit facilities and loans.
But this has yet to translate into higher customer satisfaction levels with the bank.
JP Morgan To Cease Proprietary Trading
Global banking giant JP Morgan has apparently decided to close down its proprietary trading operations, sources from within the bank say. According to an unnamed source quoted by Dow Jones, JP Morgan has issued notice to approximately 20 proprietary traders that trade commodities.
JP Morgan has never had a huge focus on proprietary trading, and it’s prop trading desks have tended to be small. Nevertheless those desks have been affected by regulatory reform and in particular the Volcker Rule, which forbids banks from proprietary trading, proprietary investments in hedge funds and private equity.
Australians Believe Not Enough Competition In Banking
A survey undertaken by Australian wealth manager AMP suggests that nearly 78 per cent of all Australians believe that acquisitions by banks should be restricted.It is no coincidence that the survey results were released on the eve of the ruling by the competition regulator on National Australia Bank’s proposed acquisition of Axa Asia Pacific Holdings.
According to the AMP survey, an overwhelming majority of 71 per cent of people polled say they believe that there needs to be increased competition within the Australian financial services sector.