Latest news with #AustralianBankingAssociation
West Australian
12 hours ago
- Business
- West Australian
Former finance minister Simon Birmingham to lead Australian Banking Association
Former Coalition senator Simon Birmingham has been named as the new chief of the Australian Banking Association. The ABA is the peak industry body representing the major four banks and a number of smaller lenders. Mr Birmingham succeeds Anna Bligh, who announced her retirement in February after more than eight years in the top job. Mr Birmingham, who was one of the Liberal's most senior moderates, announced his retirement from politics late last year after almost two decades in parliament. He was finance minister for the second half of Scott Morrison's prime ministership as the pandemic wrecked global economies and inflation began its steady climb skywards. He has also held trade, finance and education portfolios under two prime ministers. Mr Birmingham will leave his role at ANZ as head of Asia-Pacific engagement, which he assumed in February. He joins the ABA on August 18, with Ms Bligh finishing up four days later. 'He is a recognised leader who has had deep involvement in significant and long-lasting policy decisions and actions throughout his career that have helped to shape our country,' ABA chair and National Australia Bank chief Andrew Irvine said. Mr Birmingham thanked the ABA board for their vote of confidence in his ability to lead the industry.
Perth Now
12 hours ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Former finance minister to lead banking industry
A former Liberal finance minister will represent the country's banks after being appointed chief executive office of the Australian Banking Association. After almost two decades in politics, Simon Birmingham announced his retirement from parliament at the end of 2024 for a role at banking giant ANZ. On Friday, it was revealed he would shuffle jobs once again to lead the banking lobby group from August. "I will always put trust in Australia's banking system first, pursue a competitive regulatory environment, and work to ensure innovation in banking strengthens Australia's financial interests," Mr Birmingham said in a statement. "A strong, healthy, customer-focused financial services sector is vital for all Australians." The association's members include all of the big four banks and 16 other regional and international institutions. Treasurer Jim Chalmers welcomed Mr Birmingham's announcement. "The Australian Banking Association is fortunate to be bringing in someone of Simon Birmingham's calibre as its new CEO," he said. "I'm looking forward to engaging with him on the big issues shaping Australia's banking sector." Senator Birmingham entered parliament in 2007 and served as trade, finance and education ministers in coalition governments under Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison. ABA Chair and National Australia Bank CEO Andrew Irvine said Mr Birmingham's ability to navigate difficult and complex environments made him ideal for his new role. "He will be a sensible, consistent and respected voice on behalf of the industry," Mr Irvine said.
AU Financial Review
14 hours ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Birmingham new ABA chief; PwC profit slumps; 50 best restaurants
Want to get this in your inbox at lunchtime every weekday? Financial Review subscribers can sign up for The Brief newsletter here. Plus start your day with our Before the Bell newsletter and read a full wrap of the day's news in Market Wrap. In today's news, Simon Birmingham is the Australian Banking Association's new chief, PwC Australia's profit slumps 17 per cent, and the world's 50 Best Restaurants for 2025 have been revealed.
Epoch Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
More Australians Struggle to Pay Mortgage Despite Interest Rate Cut
An increasing number of Australian homeowners are having difficulty repaying their mortgages despite the recent interest rate cut in February. New data ( Specifically, the percentage of CBA borrowers who were over 90 days behind their mortgage payments reached 0.71 percent in the March quarter of 2025. This was up from 0.61 percent in the previous year and the highest level since March 2019. The CBA also reported a significant increase in personal loan arrears, with 1.51 percent of customers falling more than 90 days behind on these repayments. This was up from 1.34 percent in March 2024 and 1.09 percent in March 2023. Related Stories 2/17/2025 5/6/2025 Meanwhile, Despite the increase, the Australian Banking Association said most borrowers were meeting their mortgage responsibility, with arrears staying below the pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. February Interest Rate Cut The new arrear figures come after the Reserve Bank of Australia reduced the official cash rate from 4.35 percent to This was the first rate cut in four years after the central bank implemented an aggressive monetary policy to curb high inflation during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The RBA said its decision was due to a notable decrease in inflation from its peak in 2022, which brought the headline inflation rate down to 3.2 percent in the December 2024 quarter. While borrowers are hoping for more rate cuts, the central bank has remained cautious about future downward movements. In March, RBA Governor Michele Bullock said the bank did not believe a series of rate cuts were required in the current economic situation. The governor also noted that its focus was on the U.S. government's tariff policy and its impact on economic activity and inflation in Australia. The bank will deliver its next interest rate decision on May 20. At present, cash markets and economic experts are predicting that the RBA will announce a second interest rate cut next week, effectively slashing the cash rate by another 0.25 percent to 3.85 percent.
9 News
29-04-2025
- Business
- 9 News
Banking details of thousands of Aussies stolen by cybercriminals
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here The compromised banking details of more than 30,000 Aussies have been found online, security experts say. Research from Aussie tech security firm, Dvuln said the compromised data, found from the last four years, relates to "multiple major banks". But rather than the credentials being stolen from the banks, they were swiped from customer's devices by criminals using "infostealer malware infections". Details from 10,000 customers of one bank found on "infostealer logs" where criminals can share and sell the data, it says, and another had 7000. (iStock/Getty) Dvuln warned the data shows only a "fraction" of what's going on. Details from 10,000 customers of one bank were found on "infostealer logs" where criminals can share and sell the data. Another bank had 5000 details found, and another again had 4000. The information of customers from Australia's big four banks, including Commonwealth Bank, NAB, ANZ and Westpac was among the details found. Dvuln warns multi-factor authentication, which is now common to get onto banking apps or websites, is "not a complete defence". "The infections targeted individual user devices and harvested their credentials, rather than compromising banking infrastructure directly," the report said. It said "coordinated" action is needed, from financial institutions, government, cybersecurity professionals and the public "to close the gap between endpoint compromise and financial abuse". The report said infostealer malware, which is short for malicious software, is "one of the most pervasive yet underreported threats facing Australia's financial sector." Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh confirmed the issue that's been identified relates to data being accessed from personal devices such as phones and laptops, and not from any breach of bank security systems. "Keeping customers secure online is the top priority for Australia's banks," Blight said. "They continue to invest security defences to help keep customers safe, including using advanced intelligence systems to monitor both open and dark web sources for compromised customer credentials. Australian Banking Association boss Anna Bligh. (AAP) If a bank becomes aware that a customer's credentials may have been compromised, they take steps to secure their account and advise them on how to prevent further activity. "If customers have any concerns about their account details, they should get in touch with their bank as soon as possible." CommBank also advised customers to create unique, strong passwords and change them regularly, install and maintain reputable anti-virus software, monitor their accounts and enable transaction notifications, and contact them if they notice suspicious activity. An Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) spokesperson said the agency is "persistently working to counter the cybercriminal threat targeting Australia". "Cybercriminals use Information-stealing malware to steal and exploit valid user credentials and system information, then reselling this information for monetary gain," the ASD spokesperson said. "Cybercriminals are using information stealers to undermine the security and wellbeing of Australian organisations. "Information stealers pose a serious problem as they provide cybercriminals legitimate user credentials which could lead to gaining initial access against other targets." Government agency Australia Signals Directorate, part of Australia's national security community received over 87,400 cybercrime reports in 2023-24. The most common was identity fraud. banks scam Australia national Technology Tech finance CONTACT US Property News: The Perth suburbs where residents rarely leave.
