Banking in Australia

In 1990, the government adopted a "four pillars policy" in relation to banking in Australia and announced that it would reject any mergers between the big four banks.[6] This is long-standing policy rather than formal regulation, but it reflects the broad political unpopularity of further bank mergers. A number of commentators have argued that the "four pillars policy" is built upon economic fallacies and works against Australia's better interests.[7]

The four pillars policy does not prevent the four major banks from acquiring smaller competitors. In 2000, CBA acquired the Colonial Group, which had emerged as a major bank–insurance combine in the 1990s, after the Colonial Mutual insurance group took over State Bank of New South Wales in 1994. The Commonwealth Bank also acquired the State Bank of Victoria in 1990 and Bankwest in 2008. Westpac acquired Challenge Bank in 1995, Bank of Melbourne in 1997, and St George Bank in 2008.[8]

Currently, banking in Australia is dominated by four major banks: Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ Bank and the National Australia Bank. The top four banking groups in Australia ranked by market capitalisation at share price 1 December 2017:

The Customer Owned Banking Association (formerly known as Abacus Australian Mutuals) is the industry body representing the more than 100 credit unions, building societies and mutual banks that constitute the Australian mutual or cooperative banking sector.[15]

Collectively, Australian customer-owned banks service 4.6 million customers or 'members' (as they are mutual shareholders in the institutions), with total assets of over A$138 billion.[16] The ten largest customer-owned banks in Australia are:[17]

Great Southern Bank is Australia's largest customer owned bank having achieved this status with the rebranding from Credit Union Australia on 1 June 2021. Previously Heritage Bank was Australia's largest customer-owned bank, having changed its name from Heritage Building Society in December 2011. A number of credit unions and building societies changed their business names to include the word 'bank', to overcome adverse perceptions of smaller deposit-taking entities. For example, in September 2011 Bank Australia (formerly Bankmecu) was announced as Australia's first customer-owned bank.[18]

Three teachers' credit unions have become known as 'banks'; namely, RACQ Bank (formerly the Queensland Teachers' Credit Union), Bank First (formerly the Victoria Teachers' Credit Union), and Teachers Mutual Bank (formerly Teachers Credit Union).[19] The Police & Nurses' Credit Union began trading as P&N Bank in March 2013, and some credit unions are electing to use 'mutual banking' as a business tagline, rather than as a business name, as they do not meet the criteria to be called a 'bank'.[20]

There are other retail banks in Australia. These are smaller and often regional banks, including the Bendigo & Adelaide Bank, Suncorp Bank, the Bank of Queensland and ME Bank. Other banks, such as Bankwest, St George Bank and Bank of Melbourne, are subsidiaries or alternate trading names of the big four banks.

Foreign banks wishing to carry on a banking business in Australia must obtain a banking authority issued by APRA under the Banking Act, either to operate as a wholesale bank through an Australian branch or to conduct business through an Australian-incorporated subsidiary. Foreign banks engaging in retail banking require a full banking licence. Foreign banks which do not wish to obtain a banking authority in Australia may operate a representative office in Australia for liaison purposes, but the activities of that office will be restricted.

According to the Foreign Investment Review Board, foreign investment in the Australian banking sector needs to be consistent with the Banking Act, the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Act 1998 and banking policy, including prudential requirements. Any proposed foreign takeover or acquisition of an Australian bank will be considered on a case-by-case basis and judged on its merits.

There are a number of foreign subsidiary banks, however only a few have a retail banking presence; ING Bank (Australia) Limited (trading as ING), HSBC Bank Australia (a subsidiary of HSBC), Delphi Bank (formerly the 'Bank of Cyprus Australia', and in 2012 acquired by Bendigo & Adelaide Bank), Bank of Sydney (with a full banking licence since 2001) have a small number of branches.

Foreign banks have a more significant presence in the Australian merchant banking sector.

The Oriental Bank, one of Australia's earliest bank buildings, located in Melbourne, circa 1870s. The bank went out of business in around 1884 and was demolished shortly afterwards.

Between white settlement in Sydney in 1788 and 1817, there were no banks nor much currency in the colony. The first bank in Australia was the Bank of New South Wales, established in Sydney in 1817.[33] During the 19th and early 20th century, the Bank of New South Wales opened branches throughout Australia and Oceania: at Moreton Bay (Brisbane) (in 1850), then in Victoria (1851), New Zealand (1861), South Australia (1877), Western Australia (1883), Fiji (1901), Papua (now part of Papua New Guinea) (1910) and Tasmania (1910). It was by far the most dominant bank throughout Australia until into the 1960s.

The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney was established in 1834, and the National Bank of Australasia established in Melbourne in 1858, and set up branches in other Australian colonies: Tasmania (in 1859), Western Australia (1866), New South Wales (1885) and Queensland (1920), and a London branch (1864). After acquiring a number of other banks over the years, these two banks merged in 1982 to form the National Commercial Banking Corporation of Australia, which was renamed the National Australia Bank.

Union Bank of Australia, Sydney, 1840s

In 1835 a London-based bank called the Bank of Australasia was formed[34] that would eventually become the ANZ Bank. In 1951, it merged with the Union Bank of Australia, another London-based bank, which had been formed in 1837. In 1970, it merged with the English, Scottish and Australian Bank Limited, another London-based bank, formed in 1852, in what was then the largest merger in Australian banking history, to form the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited.

A speculative boom in the Australian property market in the 1880s led to the Australian banking crisis of 1893. This was in an environment where little government control or regulation of banks had been established and led to the failure of 11 commercial banks, even the National Bank of Australasia.

Until 1910, banks could issue private bank notes, except in Queensland which issued treasury notes (1866–1869) and banknotes (1893–1910)[35] which were legal tender in Queensland. Private bank notes were not legal tender except for a brief period in 1893 in New South Wales.[35] There were, however, some restrictions on their issue or other provisions for the protection of the public. Queensland treasury notes were legal tender in that state.

Private bank notes and treasury notes continued in circulation until 1910, when the federal Parliament passed the Australian Notes Act 1910 which prohibited the circulation of state notes as money and the Bank Notes Tax Act 1910 imposed a prohibitive tax of 10% per annum on 'all bank notes issued or re-issued by any bank in the Commonwealth ... and not redeemed'. These Acts put an end to the issue of notes by the trading banks and the Queensland Treasury. Also in 1910, the Australian pound was first issued as the legal tender in Australia. Now, the Reserve Bank Act 1959 expressly prohibits persons from issuing bills or notes payable to bearer on demand and intended for circulation.[36]

The federal government established the Commonwealth Bank in 1911, which by 1913 had branches in all six states. In 1912, it took over the State Savings Bank of Tasmania (est. 1902)[37] and did the same in 1920 with the Queensland Government Savings Bank (est. 1861). As with many other countries, the Great Depression of the 1930s brought a string of bank failures. In 1931, Commonwealth Bank took over two faltering state savings banks: the Government Savings Bank of New South Wales (est. 1871) and the State Savings Bank of Western Australia (est. 1863). In 1991, it also took over the failing State Bank of Victoria (est. 1842).

Nos 5 and 7 Sydney Road Manly in 1951, taken by Sam Hood for LJ Hooker, SLNSW 31789

As a response to the Great Depression, banking in Australia became tightly regulated. Until the 1980s, it was virtually impossible for a foreign bank to establish branches in Australia; with the consequence that Australia had fewer banks compared to countries such as the United States and Hong Kong. Moreover, banks in Australia were classified as either savings banks or trading banks. Savings banks paid virtually no interest to their depositors [Greenwood, STEERglobal states that in 1960s Perth 6% was paid on Commonwealth Bank savings accounts] and their lending activities were restricted to providing mortgages. Many of these savings banks were owned by state governments. Trading banks were essentially merchant banks, which did not provide services to the general public. Because of these and numerous other regulatory restrictions, other forms of non-bank financial institutions flourished in Australia, such as building societies and credit unions. These were regulated by state laws and were subject to less stringent regulations, could provide and charge higher interest rates, but were restricted in the range of services they could offer. Above all, they were not allowed to call themselves "banks".

From 1920, the Commonwealth Bank performed some central bank functions, which were greatly expanded during World War II. This arrangement caused some discomfort for the other banks, and as a result the Reserve Bank of Australia was created on 14 January 1960 and assumed the central bank functions previously performed by the Commonwealth Bank, including managing the currency, the money supply and exchange control.

Banks have adopted new technologies in order to reduce operating costs. The rollout of automated teller machines (ATMs) commenced in 1969. There are currently a number of ATM networks operating in Australia, the largest five of which are: the Commonwealth Bank-Bankwest network (with over 4,000 machines), NAB-rediATM network (with over 3,400 machines), Westpac-St George-BankSA and Bank of Melbourne network (with over 3,000 machines), ANZ (with over 2,600 machines) and Suncorp (with over 2,000 machines), and others.[38] Financial institutions are linked via interbank networks.

The use of the Bank State Branch (BSB) identifier was introduced in the early 1970s with the introduction of MICR on cheques to mechanise the process of data capture by the banks as well as for mechanical sorting and bundling of physical cheques for forwarding to the payer bank branch for final cheque clearance. Since then, BSBs have been used in electronic transactions (but is not used in financial card numbering).

EFTPOS technology was introduced in 1984. Initially, only the banks' existing debit and credit cards could be used, but in 1985, the ATM (Financial) Network was created to link EFTPOS systems to provide access for all customers. Cards issued by all banks could then be used at all EFTPOS terminals nationally, but debit cards issued in other countries could not. Prior to 1986, the Australian banks organized a widespread uniform credit card, called Bankcard, which had been in existence since 1974. There was a dispute between the banks whether Bankcard (or credit cards in general) should be permitted into the proposed EFTPOS system. At that time several banks were actively promoting MasterCard and Visa credit cards. Store cards and proprietary cards, such as fuel cards and Bartercard, were shut out of the new system, though they use compatible technology.

The widespread acceptance of credit cards and the development of SSL encrypted technology in mid 1990s opened the way to E-commerce. Telephone banking was introduced in the 1990s, with internet banking being introduced after 1995 and mobile banking after the 2010s. Bain, Research Now and Bain[39] along with GMI NPS surveys in 2012 found that 27% of Australians have had mobile banking transactions in the previous three months.[40] These innovations have resulted in significant shifts in banking in Australia away from the use of bank branches, and resulting in branch closures and staff cuts.[41][42]

The banking industry was slowly deregulated. In the mid-1960s, the distinction between and separation of trading and savings banks was removed and all banks were allowed to operate in the money market (traditionally the domain of merchant banks), and banks were allowed to set their own interest rates. Building societies were allowed to take deposits from the public. Foreign exchange controls were abolished and the Australian dollar was permitted to float from December 1983.

Banking in Australia is notable by the small number of large banks in the market. Much of this concentration is the result of bank acquisitions. English, Scottish and Australian Bank was acquired by the ANZ Bank in 1970. In 1982, Bank of New South Wales merged with the Commercial Bank of Australia to form Westpac. There were many other bank mergers and acquisitions throughout Australia's banking history. The boom and bust of the 1980s was a turbulent period for banks, with some establishing leading market positions, while others being absorbed by the larger banks. Beginning in the 1980s, several building societies sought to convert to banks, but were required to demutualise before they were permitted to do so. This included NSW Building Society, which became Advance Bank, St George, Suncorp, Metway Bank, Challenge Bank, Bank of Melbourne and Bendigo Bank. A change in regulations allowed building societies and credit unions to become banks without having to demutualise, and several including Heritage Bank have converted since 2011 while retaining their status and structure as mutual organisations.

In 1990, the government adopted the "four pillars policy" in relation to banking in Australia and announced that it would reject any mergers between the four big banks.[6] The four pillars policy, however, has not prevented the four major banks from acquiring smaller competitors. In 2000, CBA acquired the Colonial group, which had emerged as a major bank–insurance combine in the 1990s, after the Colonial Mutual insurance group took over State Bank of NSW in 1994. The Commonwealth Bank also acquired the State Bank of Victoria in 1990 and BankWest in 2008. Westpac acquired the Challenge Bank in 1995, Bank of Melbourne in 1997, and St George Bank in 2008.[8]

The Australian government's direct ownership of banks ceased with the full privatisation of the Commonwealth Bank between 1991 and 1996. There was also increased competition from non-bank lenders, such as providers of securitised home loans. A category of authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) was created for a corporation which is authorised under the Banking Act 1959 to take deposits from customers. The change formalised the right of non-bank financial institutions – such as building societies and credit unions – to accept deposits from non-members.

Following the Wallis Committee Report, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) was established on 1 July 1998 to take over from the RBA the oversight of ADI's and other financial institutions in Australia, e.g., banks, credit unions, building societies, friendly societies, general insurance and reinsurance companies, life insurance and most members of the superannuation industry. The Payments System Board (PSB) was also created, to maintain the safety and performance of the payments system.

At the time, consumer credit in Australia was primarily loaned in the form of installment sales credit. The arrival of hundreds of thousands of readily employable migrant workers under the post-war immigration scheme, coupled with intense competition amongst lenders, discouraged proper investigation into buyers.[43] Concerns about the possibly inflationary impact of lending created the first finance companies in Australia.[43]

In June 2017 the Treasurer, Hon Scott Morrison MP, initiated the Open Banking Review. Open Banking is to encourage more efficiency in the market, create new opportunities for market entrants, encourage competition and give customers greater control over their data. This was finalised in March 2018.[44]

In 2018 APRA created a restricted ADI framework.[45] The framework is designed to encourage new entrants to the banking industry, particularly small firms with limited financial resources, to navigate the licensing process. Eligible entities can conduct a limited range of business activities for two years while they progress towards an unrestricted status. APRA announced and authorised the first restricted ADI, Volt Bank, on 7 May 2018. On 1 September 2022, APRA announced it had revoked Volt Bank Limited's (Volt) authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) licence under the Banking Act 1959.[46]

• Pitt, Michael T. (2013). Renniks Australian Coin and Banknote Values: Over 49 Years as the Premier Guide for Coins and Banknotes. Renniks Publications. ISBN 978-0-9873386-2-4.