UBank: key media articles
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Australia sees 'five minute online banking'
A new online banking account in Australia can reportedly be set up in five minutes. The National Australia Bank (NAB) has released the online bank account through its internet business, UBank. According to iTWire, the savings account can be set up in the short space of time with a few personal details such as a driving licence.
National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB , branded nab ) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. NAB is ranked 17th largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation. [ 1 ] It operates across 10 countries serving 8.3 million consumer and business banking customers and over 2.3 million wealth management customers. [ 2 ] NAB operates 1,808 branches and service centres and 4656 ATMs globally. [ 2 ] NAB has a "AA-" long term issuer rating by Standard & Poor's . [ 3 ]Westpac back to Bank of Melbourne with online arm
WESTPAC Banking Corporation is looking to step up its "local" banking focus in Victoria, with the potential relaunch of the Bank of Melbourne brand. Westpac could relaunch the Bank of Melbourne brand as an online offering. Source: Reuters BusinessDaily has learned that the group is examining a proposal to revive the moniker for a new internet-based deposit business to compete with National Australia Bank's online arm, U-Bank .
Best of the Best is all about sorting out the best financial products and services – to help you make the most of your finances. It helps too to sum up the year’s banking highlights, so here’s a snapshot. Interest rates hit a 40-year low – this time back in 2007 repayments on a $300,000 mortgage were $2329, today they’re just $1937, a saving of over $350 a month. The cash rate plunged to 3%, yet throughout the year online savings accounts paying more than 4% were easy to find. NAB declared that from December 4, 2009 it would abolish the $25 over-limit fee on all credit cards and cut credit card late payments fees from $30 to $5, thereby leading the way to reducing and maybe (it’s a big call) even ending all excessive penalty fees.
Best of the Best: Banking outlook for 2010
burningpants » Blog Archive » UBank, Me Bank, We All Bank
Also launching last month in a green dominated website was NAB’s attempt at consumer chumminess with the aptly named – UBank. UBank is acting as an online deposit taker – selling term deposits to Australians chasing the security and returns offered by cash. CoreData- brandmanagement conducted desktop research last week into all the online deposit takers in Australia and found that the UBank offer was among the best in the market. It was found to be simple, easy to use and seemingly designed by the customer service department of the bank rather than the legal division. One of the interesting things about the website is that it recognises people need to come to making a decision in whatever way suits them.
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Special Reports - Time to spend
Wednesday, 1 October 2008 National Australia Bank announced today it had taken a step to progress its development of new distribution channels, products and services with the establishment of UBank, a new direct channel offering, focused on savings products. As the first brand in NAB’s Star Direct & Marketing division, UBank will launch with term deposits and over time, will add a range of additional savings, transaction and investment products. UBank products will have highly competitive rates and no application or overdrawing fees.
UBank launch
UBank fact sheet June 2009
30 June 2009 Who and What is UBank? UBank is a direct bank with products designed to be sold and serviced exclusively over the telephone and the internet UBank is a division of NAB Personal Banking and operates under NAB's banking license. UBank deposits sit on NAB's balance sheet hence UBank deposits are covered by the government guarantee
NAB's UBank targets self serve customers
National Australia Bank (NAB) is offering existing customers bonus interest upon rollover to its new self service banking distribution channel, dubbed UBank.Customers still find comfort in cash, says UBank survey
A UBank survey of customers with self-managed super funds (SMSFs) has revealed that a third have more than 50 per cent of their SMSF in cash. UBank, National Australia Bank’s direct bank, found that more than half the respondents stated they have no plans to alter their current cash allocation despite improving economic conditions in Australia. The survey revealed that a significant proportion of respondents blamed the poor performance and high fees of managed funds for their move to a SMSF, and 75 per cent said having control of their own financial destiny was the reason for their move. “The results of this survey show that more and more people want to take tight control of their own financial destiny at a time of ongoing caution about the economic climate,” said UBank general manager Gerd Schenkel.
UBank to launch mobile banking this year
NAB online banking offshoot UBank, which set up a five minute online savings account last August, plans to offer its first mobile banking service later this year. According to Gerd Schenkel, UBank general manager, while the organisation is now 'writing positive income and working toward becoming cash positive' - which is banker-speak for 'we haven't quite got back what we invested in setting up UBank' - the organisation was already looking at additional products to offer online, and also at new distribution channels. 'Mobile is probably the next step for us. There will be a mobile platform sometime this year as we follow customer demand,' said Schenkel.Savings Accounts: Online or old-fashioned savings accounts: What
Andrea Sophocleous investigates what makes a savings account the best fit for you. December 1, 2009 Since the introduction of the first online savings account by ING Direct in 1990, Australians have taken to online accounts like ducks to water. Over one million Aussies have an ING Savings Maximiser account, and plenty more have opened online high interest accounts with the likes of the big four banks and other players, such RaboPlus. “Currently 52 percent of the Australian adult population claim to prefer using direct channels to conduct banking activity,” says Gerd Schenkel, general manager of UBank, the online banking arm of NAB.National Australia Bank is working on plans to launch a new retail bank under a different brand. Last month, the bank created a new business group to look for ways of using technology to deliver low-cost services to groups not well represented in the bank’s customer base. The focus is on young people and self-directed consumers and investors, who are technologically savvy and would use the internet, mobile phones and other alternative distribution mechanisms. A NAB spokesman confirmed yesterday that the bank’s Australian chief executive, Ahmed Fahour, made an internal announcement in May that a new business group, Star Direct and Alliances, had been set up under general manager Gerd Schenkel.
NAB looks to launch no-frills banking brand – Crikey
Terminal ... Interest rates for long-term deposit accounts are creeping higher, but savers are being warned to be wary / File INTEREST rates for long-term deposit accounts are creeping higher, but savers are being warned to be wary. Bankwest has recently increased its fixed interest rate for a five-year term deposit by 0.75 percentage points to 7 per cent per annum, following a lead from RaboPlus. The next highest five-year term rate is offered by the Commonwealth Bank, which has raised its five-year term deposit by 0.3 percentage points to 6.5 per cent. ‘‘A 7 per cent rate in this market and by a Standard & Poor’s AAArated institution like RaboPlus is very good value – there is close to zero risk,’’ according to Damian Smith, chief executive of RateCity.
Fees could be terminal in term deposits
FOR a conservative sector like banking, NAB's start-up online and phone-based banking brand, UBank, is behaving rather radically. UBank, launched last October, has ignored established media outlets in favour of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to lure customers who are allergic to bank branches. Perhaps the most outlandish move is its decision to spurn TV commercials in favour of a series of two-minute information videos on You Tube, called Money Box.