News Archive for January 2014

Cutting their variable rate loan by 0.59 of a percentage point to 4.75 just days ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's first monthly meeting next Tuesday indicates that the war is on to maintain market share in 2014.

Thousands of Australians are putting themselves at unnecessary risk of identity theft by using login credentials that are easy to hack, such as "password" and "123456" Australian security experts say.

Consumer financial stress is forecast to rise during 2014 to its highest level in more than a year, with the financial position of consumers expected to weaken and personal debts to increase according to a recent report.

A productivity report has revealed that the cost of implementing a lower GST threshold on goods purchased from international sources online will well outweigh the benefit.

Australia's 14,000 cafes and restaurants are expected to be the most impacted by the new mandatory PIN requirements for credit and debit card purchases which comes into effect on 1 August, 2014.

Recent data from the RBA shows Australia's population continuing to grow at an above average pace, with official projections indicating this is expected to continue. To date there has not been any corresponding boost to the supply of new housing, which means for property owners, demand and property values are only expected to climb in the long term.

The 28 degrees MasterCard was a favourite amongst Australian travellers due to its no-fee structure and competitive exchange rates. But a recent change to the cards structure could have the travel card darling fall from favour and card holders looking for alternative methods to access their cash while overseas.

Consumer confidence rose strongly on the first weekend of 2014, to 116.4 (up 4.6 pts since Dec 15/15) according to The Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Update.

An equivalent of 300,000 married and de facto couples in Australia have secret bank accounts without the knowledge of their partner, according to new research conducted by TAL Life Insurance.

Two out of three Australian businesses are more optimistic about growth this year compared with 2013, according to the latest Dun and Bradstreet's Business Expectations Survey.