Abacus: Big bank profits a "slap in the face"
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BN
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16/02/2010 10:00:00 AM
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4
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The industry body representing credit unions and building societies, Abacus, has slammed the recent billion dollar profits announced by Australia''s two biggest banks.
After Westpac''s first quarter profit announcement today of $1.6bn and CBA''s $2.9bn interim profit posted last week, Abacus CEO Louise Petschler said the banks had made it "abundantly clear that they put their shareholders before their customers".
She labelled the profits "staggering" and a "slap in the face to hard-working Australians who struggled as big banks raised interest rates in December last year".
Petschler said the major Australian banks had been "crying poor over the cost of funding", but had then turned around to announce record profits.
"So to all those bank customers out there, I would simply say this. If you are sick of working to fill the coffers of major bank shareholders, just say no.
"Look around and find an alternative - a mutual banking alternative where the customers own the institution. At Australia''s credit unions and mutual building societies, you, the customer, will always come first," Petschler said.
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Double digit mortgage growth for CUBS - Credit unions and building societies (CUBS) recorded double digit annual home-loan growth according to APRA figures, a sign that there remain competitive alternatives to the major banks
Latest Comments
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4
comment(s)
Broker on
16 Feb 2010 11:59 AM
Well done ACCC!
Forever the optimist on
16 Feb 2010 04:54 PM
I guess the MFAA wll be making comment soon about the banks profits and our declining commission rates and service!!!!
Broker on
16 Feb 2010 05:29 PM
Well said optimist, but I think there is a better chance that the MFAA will continue to deal with all the critical issues that facing us brokers, like (1) the price of tea in china (2) how long a piece of string actually is and (3) whether pigs actually fly, and if so how far, and in what direction!
Never in my life have I come across and organisation as irrelevant as the MFAA, yet they continue to extort their annual fees out of me through their alliance with the majors.
You only need to ask your clients what they think of the MFAA, who they ask?
Perhaps the MFAA is owned by the CBA & Westpac and out annual fees are distributed back to CBA & Westpac, as without this much needed contribution the broker channel would not be viable as ongoing concern, due to the “cost of funds” which as we can all see by CBA & Westpac’s results are clearly just killing them!...-:)
sniffer on
16 Feb 2010 05:51 PM
Hang on a second. If the banks lowered their rates the credit unions would be even further behind on their offering than they are now? How would they compete for business then?
Customers with banks have better off than the ones that went to non-banks e.g. RAMS, GE, Mortgage Managers and most Credit Unions. I will take a bit more notice of comments from people like Abacas when they have a viable alternative to the banks.
Without profitable banks we would all be broke!