By Brad Smith on Monday, March 30, 2009 1:59 PM

1 Million Qantas Frequent Flyer members used to earning points via their credit card have been forced to decide whether or not they want to continue doing so after the airline announced 6 months ago that a number of credit cards would no longer have a direct relationship with their loyalty program. As the final day of the old program looms tomorrow (March 31st), reports today suggest that many Frequent Flyers are still yet to make a change, undecided by what to do despite heavy advertising and promotion by Qantas under the “Its Time To Choose” banner. Read More »

By Brad Smith on Friday, March 27, 2009 10:53 AM

Following on from the controversial decision at the last RBA board meeting in March not to make any downward adjustment to official interest rates, Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens last night offered another strong indication that the upcoming April meeting will produce the rate cut that many expected to see already. The Board, which next meets on Tuesday April 7th were said to have been heavily split over whether to cut rates at the March meeting but decided to pause with a view to using this monetary policy tool at a later date when the effects of the Federal Government’s 2nd economic stimulus package may have faded. Governor Stevens was reported in The Age on March 17th as suggesting that “the narrow decision the RBA made in March raises the possibility of a rate cut coming sooner… Bearing in mind how close a call the March decision apparently was, we cannot rule out an earlier move, perhaps even on April 7.” Read More »

By Brad Smith on Thursday, March 19, 2009 10:53 AM

Following on from yesterday’s blog post (http://tinyurl.com/d9vzxj) regarding the Commonwealth Bank’s offer of repayment “holidays” of 6-12 months to its unemployed borrowers, news today that rival Big Four bank ANZ is also said to be looking at a similar offer on top of the existing repayment deferral scheme already in place for customers experiencing hardship. An ANZ spokeswoman today told the Herald Sun “we certainly hope to be in a position in the near future to announce an extended hardship package, particularly for those who face unemployment” Read More »

By Brad Smith on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 2:35 PM

The Commonwealth Bank has today come out with some positive news for those of you struggling through the current global financial crisis in announcing that it would grant repayment “holidays” of 6-12 months to its unemployed borrowers. Quoted in today’s The Age, a spokesperson for the CBA told AAP “we wanted to work with any of our customers who become unemployed, and so we're offering them the opportunity to have a six month and up to twelve month repayment holiday on their home loan.” Read More »

By Brad Smith on Monday, March 16, 2009 8:45 PM

Two weeks after the RBA endorsed introduction of a controversial new fee structure for ATM usage, the largest ATM network in Australia are reporting a 12% decline in usage of their machines. Where previously users of a foreign ATM (a machine not owned by the card issuer) were charged by their own bank, the change in policy sees the levying of any fees now being the domain of the ATM owner instead. Read More »

By Brad Smith on Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:31 AM

ABS figures published this week provide a strong indication that while the Australian economy is flagging on most key indicators, the first-home buyer market is stronger than ever. Despite the fact that we are headed for the dreaded R-word that no one in Government will dare pronounce (“Recession” for the subtlety challenged…), property market resurgence seems to be underway through a boom in interest from first home buyers. Read More »

By Brad Smith on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 11:01 AM

Hundreds of thousands of families will today start receiving cash bonus payments of between $900 and $950 as part of Prime Minster Kevin Rudd’s 2nd economic stimulus package. The much debated $52 billion in government spending, which finally passed through the Senate in mid February (http://tinyurl.com/dd8npx) sees a commitment of $13 billion in handouts to the public. In the wake of the Senate decision to pass the stimulus package there has been much subsequent debate over what the public will actually do with their personal handouts, with many economic leaders calling for mass spending on consumer goods, while others have empathized with the needs of consumers to save or pay off debt. So what are YOU going to be doing with your handout? Feel free to let us know with a comment below… Read More »

By Brad Smith on Thursday, March 05, 2009 7:02 PM

Following this week’s RBA decision not to cut interest rates, further bad news for households with the announcement that private health insurance premiums are set to rise on April 1st this year by an average of 6.02%, representing the largest premium hike in 4 years. The private health funds were given the green light by federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon earlier this week in a decision that will cost the average family with combined hospital and extras cover an extra $3 per week or $150 per year. Health insurance premiums do tend to increase on an annual basis in Australia but by comparison, last year’s rise was by a smaller average margin (4.94% ) and the 6.02% is reported to be the largest in 4 years. Read More »

By Brad Smith on Tuesday, March 03, 2009 2:06 PM

BREAKING NEWS: The RBA has concluded its monthly board meeting this afternoon and has defied expectations of any further interest rate cut that had been forecasted over the past few days. According to Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens, the decision to leave official interest rates at 3.25% was based largely on the fact that Australia’s “financial system remains strong and the monetary policy transmission process is working to deliver large reductions in interest rates to end borrowers.'' Read More »

By Brad Smith on Monday, March 02, 2009 11:47 AM

Conflicting reports in the news this morning over whether we will or we won’t see a further cut to official interest rates when the Reserve Bank board convene for their monthly meeting tomorrow. The popular view does seems to suggest a 50 basis point cut to the official cash rate which would break new records in Australia and take rates to 2.75%. However there are also reports suggesting that the RBA has shown unprecedented levels of monetary policy aggression in recent months and that it will want to save the impact of a further rate cut for an even rainier day. Read More »