Finance your car desires with a BankWest secure personal loan

If you intend to buy a motor vehicle that's less than 7 years old, then you should consider a secured personal loan from BankWest.

Banks' Results Starting To Sour

RISING bad debts are taking their toll on the major banks' prospects of increased profits over the coming year, with the industry facing higher provisions than originally planned and a consequent heavier impact on earnings.

Debt Starts To Bite Bottom Line

RISING bad debts are taking their toll of the major banks' prospects of growing profits over the coming year with the industry staring at higher provisions than originally planned and a consequent heavier impact on earnings.

Lenders Must Keep A Cool Head

WHEN times are as uncertain as they are at present, it is a time to keep the ship safe. This is not a time for any company to over-extend itself. The situation for banks in the US and in Europe is very serious because they have the problems in the debt markets combining with worsening economic conditions.

Customers Do Cover Costs ... You Can Bank On It

I would like to clarify several points made by Associate Professor Richard Denniss ("Wouldn't credit it, but regrettably the banks do", March 24), as some of his information is incorrect.

Rate Rises As Westpac Also Feels Squeeze

WESTPAC yesterday became the latest of the major banks to raise its key mortgage rate by a further 10 basis points, putting further pressure on home owners.

Banks' Cost Of Cash Points To Strain Behind The Scenes

CREDIT markets are still showing signs of stress in Australia and overseas, even though equity markets have risen from their recent lows.

Reserve In Swipe At Global Investors

THE Reserve Bank has implicitly criticised global investors for treating Australia's banks the same as US and European banks, even though they are barely touched by the US subprime mortgage crisis.

Commonwealth Bank credit cards could see you with $50 credit

If you apply for a Commonwealth Bank Low Fee Credit Card, Awards Credit Card, Gold Credit Card, or Platinum Credit Card before the end of March, and make a purchase with your new card before the end of April then you will receive $50 credit from the Commonwealth Bank.

Using our bank product comparison charts

Banks have a staggering array of products to offer, and there are a great many number of banks, so how can you easily tell which are giving the best deals for you?

Keep the banks earning you money

Banks can help you earn money with minimal effort if you use their services correctly. If you want a sure way to increase your wealth while waiting for current financial conditions to settle down, consider opening a high interest savings account with one of the many institutions we represent.

Banks And Resources Prop Up Our Leaders - Pity About Allco, Rubicon

IT WAS a short week as markets closed after lunch on Thursday for the Easter break but a big one for the banks, which made some gains off the very low bases to which they had fallen.

Happy Easter weekend from Banks.com.au!

We hope you have an enjoyable long weekend and stay safe on the roads.

Inquiry To Raise The Heat On Banks

PRESSURE on banks to abolish exorbitant penalty fees is set to intensify during a six month Senate inquiry into the unpopular charges.

Cba Braces For Year Of Gloom

THE Commonwealth Bank has predicted the credit crisis will drag on for at least 12 months, amid signs the full impact of the crunch on bank balance sheets - and what banks will be willing to lend to borrowers - will not be felt until at least next year.

Smart savings with a credit card from the banks

Banks offer a wide variety of credit cards designed to appeal to those looking to get out of credit card debt.

Read the fine print

It's certain that you've heard this advice before, but perhaps you weren't aware of just what can be hidden in the fine print.

Debt Costs To Rise As Confidence Erodes

THE Bear Stearns crisis could force up funding costs for Australian banks, putting more burden on them to raise interest rates. And there are warnings that another wave of bad debt, possibly of hundreds of millions of dollars, might hit Australian banks next year because of changes in accounting rules.

Smallest Of The Big Us Banks Meets Rapid End

A YEAR ago, US investment bank Bear Stearns had a market value of about $US23 billion. Early last month it was worth almost $US13 billion. Yesterday it sold for $US270 million - 1.2% of its former value.

Westpac Opens Path To Finance

LEADING banks are looking to follow an unusual fund-raising move by Westpac as the global liquidity crisis continues to drive the price of credit to stratospheric and unaffordable levels.

Give the banks a wake-up call

If you've been experiencing bad service from your bank, give them a wake-up call by switching to a new bank account that will provide you with better service.

Selection Committee

Five of the Melbourne Football Club faithful trawl through the memory banks, or the history books, to nominate their top fives.

The $200 Billion Question

US Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke has bought himself a big market bounce with his latest attempt to ease the global credit squeeze, a $US200 billion injection of funds backed by the the world's central banks. But it remains to be seen whether it can head off a dangerous escalation of the global credit crunch, stem a "bloodbath" and prevent what some are warning could be the worst recession for decades. Tim Colebatch reports.

Watch your statements

If you aren't paying attention to your monthly bank account statements, you could be paying more than you thought in bank fees.

Anz Customers Hit Hardest, But Relief On Way

THE worst news from banks has been saved until last. A day after Commonwealth lifted its home loan interest rate above its competitors', ANZ and St George have raised the bar higher again, hitting their customers with a standard variable rate of 9.37%.

As Lenders Are Squeezed, Borrowers Face Rationing

THE latest round of interest rate increases will raise questions about banks not being up-front with their costs and about gouging.

Banks Hit Us Hard, But We Lap It Up

THE five big banks have now risked homeowners' ire by lifting their lending rates above the Reserve Bank's official increase, but new figures suggest customers are not punishing them for it.

A time to save

With high-interest rising at the rate they are savings accounts are paying off more than they usually would.

Copycat Banks Move To Fuel Rate Rise Pain

THREE of the country's top five lending banks are set to follow the lead of rivals National Australia Bank and Westpac in lifting their home loan interest costs above the 0.25% increase in cash rates levied by the Reserve Bank.

Trio Get Set To Outstrip Reserve

THREE top-five banks are set to follow the lead of their rivals National Australia Bank and Westpac in lifting home loan interest costs above the 0.25 percentage point rates rise levied by the Reserve Bank.

The Crucial Link

As a young Sydney player banks his career on a synthetic knee reconstruction, Emma Quayle looks at a few cases where the technique hasn't worked so well.

Banks Take Rates Higher Still

MONTHLY mortgage repayments are continuing to climb above the Reserve Bank's latest interest rate increase. Westpac yesterday lifted its home loan rate by 0.3 of a percentage point to 9.27 per cent.

Crisis Looms As Capital Rules Limit Bank Lending

BANKS are running out of money.

Banks Sap Dejected Market

AUSTRALIAN banks quashed any market positivity, acting as a millstone around investors' necks, as more than $7.5 billion was erased from the Big Four alone.

Rates Grip

Official rate rises are only the start as the big banks show they're not afraid to go a few points higher, writes Leon Gettler.

To Raise Capital Now Or Not To Raise Capital? That Is The Question For Our Banks

What is expensive capital now could confer a huge medium and long-term market share advantage.

Moomba

WHAT Moomba Waterfest WHERE Birrarung Marr, Alexandra Gardens, Yarra banks WHEN Monday COST Free

Investors Hit The Panic Button

MORE than $41 billion was wiped from the sharemarket yesterday after investors hit the panic button because of widening fears about banks and financial engineers' exposure to the credit crunch.

Banks, Miners Help Rally

THE Australian share market snapped a three-day losing streak finishing more than 1 per cent higher.

Rate rises to stop rising rates?

The behaviour of banks that are raising their lending rates beyond the increases of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) are not just taking advantage of their customers. They're doing exactly what the RBA want.

Banks To Ignore Calls For Freeze On Rates

FEDERAL Treasurer Wayne Swan wants banks to consider the pressures home owners face as they cope with their 12th consecutive interest rate rise.

Editorial A Super Idea To Stop Us All Spending

EXPECT the major banks to roll out another home loan interest rate increase by the end of the week - perhaps even raising them beyond the Reserve Bank hike.

Rba Warns Of Credit Rations

BANKS are cutting back lending, even at higher interest rates, and the Reserve Bank has warned the slowdown could get worse.

Are you happy with your bank?

Banks often rely on customers being too busy to change institutions when dissatisfied. They can hardly be blamed. Many customers don't pay enough attention to their banking to be worried about being mistreated.

Banks Reach Pain Threshold

BANKS are facing an increasing liquidity squeeze as they battle with higher wholesale funding costs even after the Reserve Bank yesterday signalled the current cycle of climbing interest rates may have peaked.

Rate Rise 'double Blow' For Families

BANKS are refusing to rule out raising variable home loan rates by more than yesterday's increase in the official cash rate. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised the official cash rate by 0.25 per cent to a 12-year high of 7.25 per cent.

Worried Now? The Worst Is Yet To Come

THE bad news is the banks are likely to add their own interest rate increase on top of the official 0.25-percentage-point rise and further official rises are likely.

Our handy comparison chart helps you decide

If you're in the market for a new credit card, take advantage of our convenient credit card comparison chart and find the best credit card for you.

Brace For Higher Interest Rates

HOME loan and business borrowers face an extended period of higher interest rates as Australian banks begin to fix their fund-raising efforts at more costly prices in the face of deteriorating local credit markets.

Things to consider when choosing a bank account

You may have been told to shop around when looking for a bank account, but it's fairly useless advice if you don't know what to look for.

Credit Crisis Set To Deepen As World Banks Pare Lending

THE global credit shock, which is drying up funds for companies to expand and crippling the heavily indebted, is set to deepen as international banks wind back their exposure to borrowers.

A Man Of High Ideals

In fact and fiction, author Iain Banks has strong convictions about how the world should be, writes Robyn Doreian