Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Current Services
Like the ANZ, CBA also has a dedicated section to small business banking. Surrounding services include merchant payments, as well as support for import businesses. ComSec also provides access to share trading facilities and corporate banking services are available for larger organisations wanting more functionality.
NetBank is updating its functionality, but at the moment the functions include transaction history for your last 150 transactions. You can also transfer money between your own accounts, but not to other banks' accounts. There is also BPay for your bills combined with storing of frequent billers for quick payment. At the moment, there is no facility to make scheduled payments.
You can also export your transactions in Quicken (US and Australian), as well as Microsoft Money and CSV.
NetBank also provides you with a summary of interest and taxes for your end of year activities.
The search facility allows searching with specific accounts, date ranges and dollar amounts. Unfortunately, you can't search by transaction type.
Other services include ordering a chequebook, statements, and changing your password. You can also link your credit cards and access your last three months of transactions.
Future Directions
During the study, we also had access to a new pilot site containing many enhancements to the current service. While no date has been set, the new functions include pay anyone, scheduled payments for future dated transactions and recurring transactions, and batched transfers.
Usability
Netbank has a very simple and straightforward interface, with many shortcuts. Most of what you want is just one click away, and it's also a very fast service with download times being among the fastest of all the banks.
When selecting an account for a transaction, the current balance is included in the list so you know where your money is.
The BPay area requires that you set up a Biller first, making it a multiple step process to make an ad-hoc payment or paying Billers that change their billing code and CRN frequently. You do, however, have quick access to recent bills paid to make sure you're on top of things.
Viewing and editing accounts is a simultaneous process, making maintenance of your Internet banking very easy.
NetBank provides support for Macintosh customers.
Conclusion
Overall a very simple, yet strong interface. This one is well suited to the novice, but has many shortcuts for the expert. However, it's not quite as well rounded as ANZ's offering.
Rating 3.75 / 5
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.