Australian E-banking Special

Summary table

ZDNet compares eight Australian e-banking sites in terms of current features, usability, and future developments. Take a look at which site tops the polls in this comprehensive summary.

Feature	Technology	Compatibility	Minimum specification	Balances	Transfers between accounts
NAB	Downloaded application	Intel PCs only	Pentium, IE or Netscape 4.01 or higher, win 95, 98, NT SP 3, 32MB Ram	Yes	Yes
CBA	Browser based	PC and Mac	Win 95, 98, NT, 2000, Mac OS 8.6, IE 4.02+, IE 5+ (Mac), Netscape 4.72+, Netscape 4.6+ (Mac)	Yes	Yes
ANZ	Browser based	PC and Mac	Win 95, 98, NT, IE 4.72, Netscape 4.07 Mac OS (Any), IE 4.5, Netscape 4.07	Yes	Yes
Westpac	Browser based	PC and Mac	Win 3.1, 95, 98, NT Netscape 4.73 and IE 4+, IE 4.5+ only on Mac, Netscape 4.73 on Linux	Yes	Yes
StGeorge	Browser based Java Application, but the application can be downloaded for increased speed	PC and Mac	Win 95, 98, NT IE 4+, and Netscape 4.06+, and Netscape 4.06+ on Mac only.	Yes	Yes
Bendigo Bank	Browser based	PC and Mac	IE 4+ and Netscape 4+	Yes	Yes
CitiBank	Browser based	PC	Pentium with 95, 98, and NT. IE 4.01+ and Netscape 4.06+	Yes	Yes
Suncorp Metway	Browser based	PC	Win 3.0, 95, 98, NT, IE and Netscape 4.0+	Yes	Yes

Summary table Part 2

Feature	Transfers to other bank's accounts	Multiple / Batched Payments	BPay	Scheduled payments	Payroll file upload
NAB	Maximum of $5,000		Yes	Yes, up to 18 months in advance	No
CBA	No (Coming)		Yes	No (Coming)	No
ANZ	Yes, current maximum of $5,000, increasing to $50,000 in near future	Yes, but cannot save the list for repeat use	Yes	Yes	No
Westpac	Yes, standard is $1,000 per day, or special request for $5,000. Increasing to $25,000 in near future.	No (Coming)	Yes	No (Coming)	No (Coming)
StGeorge	Yes, up to $25,000. Must nominate the accounts in advance using paper based request.	Yes	Yes	Yes	No (Coming)
Bendigo Bank	Yes, between $1,000 and $5,000	No	Yes	Yes	No
CitiBank	Yes, and international accounts	No	Yes	Yes	No
Suncorp Metway	Yes	No (Coming)	Yes	Yes	No

Summary table Part 3

Feature	Accounting package integration	Statements	Access to others	Multiple Signature account support	Security Level
NAB	Downloads to MS Money, Quicken, and CSV format	Last 100 days of transactions	Customisable access for others, e.g. your accountant	No	168 bit through the proprietary interface Digital certificate for extra security. Use at different PCs difficult.
CBA	Download to MS Money, Quicken (US and Australian) and CSV	Last 150 transactions	No	No	128 bit
ANZ	Downloads to MS Money and Quicken	Up to 120 days of transactions	No	No	128 bit
Westpac	Downloads to MYOB v9 for Mac and PC, Quicken v6 and 7, Excel, MS Money 98, 99/2000, and OFX	Last 100 days transactions, but statements available for last 12 months	No	No (Coming)	128 bit
StGeorge	Downloads to CSV and QIF	Yes	No (Coming)	No (Coming)	128 bit
Bendigo Bank	No (Coming)	Yes, a minimum of 11 months' history	No	No (Coming)	128 bit
CitiBank	Downloads to MS Money, Quicken, OFX and CSV	Last 100 days	No	No	128 bit
Suncorp Metway	Sownloads to MS Money, Quicken, ASCII	Last 25 transactions (being updated to last 12 months)	No	No (Coming)	128 bit

Summary table Part 4

Feature	Other	Usability	Ease of getting started	Overall Rating
NAB	Can open term deposits online	Average, took some time to get used	The download process is not foolproof, and has to be done exactly right. Getting access is a laborious process.	3 / 5
CBA	Access to ComSec for share trading, small business section on the website	Good, simple and straightforward interface	Easy, but can only access the service after 8am the next day.	3.75 / 5
ANZ	Access to E*Trade for share trading, web development tools, and a strong SME focus	Excellent, clear and simple, with a good look and feel	No significant problems, but could be simpler and quicker	4 / 5
Westpac	Small business section on the website, WAP services	Good, fairly simple and clear. But reduced feature set makes it simple.	Access process is more complicated that it needs to be.	3.5 / 5
StGeorge	SME section on the website, but not as well integrated as others. Access to share trading through Quicktrade. Ecash for internet transactions. Endorsement of Business in a Box for SMEs to develop their own Internet site.	Below average. The Java download did not take full advantage of the flexibility of a download.	Ok, but could be simpler.	3.25 / 5
Bendigo Bank	Share trading is coming soon. Strong rural focus.	Average. The systems was quite slow, and the interface needs simplification and increased efficiency	Ok, but could be simplified	3 / 5
CitiBank		Low. A lot of inefficient steps and process to get things done. Bugs apparent when using Netscape	The best of all - just enter your card number and ATM PIN. You don't have to register or do anything special.	2 / 5

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A big problem delaying greater ...David Walsh -- 05/02/01

A big problem delaying greater use of all forms of electronic banking is a valid distrust of banks. A number of times I have needed to change banks because the bank has discontinued a service, made a service uneconomic or broken their promise to me. Banks breaking their promises of a frequent problem. The managers who make offers and promises to you have no discretion to keep the promise when Head Office changes the rules.
When you have to change banks it creates big problems if you have organised direct payments into your account for dividend and investment receipts. Before you can change banks you have a huge list of people you have to advise your new account well in advance and then some are still going to go to the old account. In the end it is so much easier and safer to simply get paid by cheque and refuse the requests for direct payment.
What is needed is a reverse BPay where a payee can give payors a code. That code goes to a web table that I can update. Each time that someone has to make a payment to me they download the current bank details from that secure site. When I wish to change my bank I only have to change that one web table for all my payments to go to the new account.

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Absolutely agree David. I hav ...Anonymous -- 16/02/01

Absolutely agree David. I have used many different banks for both personal and small business banking. The most important component has been my relationship with the branch manager.

Internet banking removes this relationship - ANZ now have a single phone number for the entire bank, you can't get the phone number for the branch, so you can't even ring the branch manager where your business is registered.

I use internet banking daily, but there is no way I will depend on it for everyday use - the internet is just not that reliable. It was never designed as a secure business medium, and it probably never will be. Nor should ordinary citizens be required to own a computer and internet access to do banking. Just look at NAB, who mandate that you use a recent version of Windows - I wonder if they negotiated a spotters fee with Microsoft? (just kidding). It just means I will never use their bank on principle.

I remember when direct payment of salaries started, banks promised no fees yet now they have them. Similarly with credit cards, the original Bankcard had no annual fee and an interest free period. You could get nearly 2 months interest free if you timed your purchase right, but not any more. Banks will introduce fees for internet banking, and when there is no choice but to use it, you will be held to ransom.

Clearly banks have far too much power to the extent that even whilst abusing their clients by offering lower service levels, more restricted access and higher and more pervasive fees they are increasing in profitability.

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