Driven by younger consumers, lower fees and debt aversion, debit cards have grown strongly for two decades, largely at the expense of traditional credit cards. But the shift seems to have halted.
Banking
Bank M&A, a notorious destroyer of shareholder value, is again in focus due to the ANZ-Suncorp transaction. So how has the last big deal in the sector panned out?
Commonwealth Bank bought into BNPL at the height of its run before starting its own brand. Now its stake in Klarna may deliver it $1.7 billion.
The introduction of the Consumer Data Right three years ago aimed to give consumers power over their data and help negotiate better banking and energy deals. Is momentum finally building?
While buy now, pay later and debit cards have dominated headlines, venerable American Express has been quietly growing its market share and lending.
Reaction to the approval of ANZ's deal to buy Suncorp has been polarised with the market split between short and long term gratification (or disappointment).
ANZ had two chances to overturn an ACCC rejection of its bid for Suncorp Bank. It only needed one, with the Competition Tribunal waving the bid through.
ANZ will finally know tomorrow whether it will be allowed to buy Suncorp's bank. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank will be among those watching closely.
She may be a MAFS fan but AMP is keeping all its vows to investors and is ready for the next stage of its recovery, with no blow ups in sight, according to its CEO.
Commonwealth Bank's share price took a hit today after disappointing half-year results, and some analysts think it's still too high — but CEO Matt Comyn says the bank's scale gives it an enduring competitive advantage.
ANZ and Macquarie provided little new on bank earnings but all eyes will be on Commonwealth Bank for any slips in its high-wire act.
NAB's new CEO runs its business bank. His biggest rival is at Commonwealth Bank. So what is CBA thinking? And why doesn't that include lending to startups?
The banks have been quick to increase mortgage rates. But when the RBA starts cutting, will they be as fast to do the same?
McEwan has simplified, stabilised and rebuilt NAB's momentum following the dark days of the Royal Commission. Now Andrew Irvine is tasked with maintaining it.
If ever there was a business model for the times it was buy now, pay later. Load up young consumers with debt on the promise there was no interest cost, charge merchants high service fees to cover marketing, and rely on cheap funding, FOMO and a very benign credit cycle.
Westpac and ANZ are taking a novel approach to solving internal problems they can't fix themselves.
For value investors, Australia's biggest bank is a conundrum. It is expensive on every measure but its share price keeps on flying and has defied gravity for almost two decades.
In just over a decade, payments fintechs have built a 25% market share in the big bank-dominated merchant payment processing sector, an opaque but crucial business.
The major banks have too much capital and not enough to do with it. They already started buying back shares, and in 2024 the market is expecting more.
More and more merchants are surcharging you just to pay them. It's hitting the tips of waiters and also distorting price signals in the payment system.
International payments are among the most expensive and least transparent in the financial system, and ripe for reform. But the shift to a harmonised, real time system has been anything but swift.
The new year promises reprieve for margin-crunched bank investors — at least if the ASX bank index can be believed. But not everyone thinks it can.
Bendigo Bank argued in court last year that smaller banks cannot compete effectively with the big four. Newer challengers like Judo Bank and Alex see things differently.
