Trending Financial News 19 September 2019
What are the odds of winning Powerball?
The Powerball jackpot this week is the biggest in Australian history at $150 million and one in three Aussie adults is expected to play.
To win Powerball, you must correctly predict the seven winning numbers plus the Powerball number. The odds of winning Division 1 of Powerball are 134,490,400 to 1 for every standard game. The odds of winning the lowest prize on Powerball (two winning numbers plus the Powerball) is 66 to 1.
To find out whether you have a better chance of getting rich by buying a Powerball ticket every week, or by putting that same money into a savings account, InfoChoice has done the maths.
Is PayID safe?
PayID is a new service offered by many banks and credit unions that enables users to send money and make payments to other people using their mobile phone number or email address.
More than 2.5 million users have been registered. Some users have pointed out that by entering a phone number, the recipient’s name is revealed.
Despite hackers obtaining 98,000 PayID names and details in a hack against Westpac in August, the New Payments Platoform says no customer funds are in danger.
Debit card vs credit card vs Buy Now, Pay Later
ME Bank CEO Jamie McPhee says his bank has abandoned expensive development plans to offer new credit cards because consumer demand for credit cards is in decline.
“There is a tectonic shift occurring in the economics of the credit card industry, with the new competition offered by buy now pay later providers,” said McPhee.
“We just could not justify continuing to increase investment in credit cards.”
Data published by the RBA shows that the popularity of credit cards began tapering in 2007 as debit cards, in particular Visa and Mastercard debit cards, were rising in popularity.
Competition in banking under microscope
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is reportedly pushing for an inquiry into competition within the banking industry and the credit unions and mutual banks have welcomed the news.
The Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) CEO Michael Lawrence said Australia does not have “sustainable banking competition.”
“Lack of competition can contribute to inappropriate conduct, insufficient choice, limited access and poor quality products.”
“The Financial Services Royal Commission looked into misconduct,” said Mr Lawrence, “Now is the time to look into competition.”
Morrison backs Centrelink’s robo-debts
The Prime Minister Scott Morrison is standing behind Centrelink’s controversial ‘robo-debt’ recovery program that matches ATO information with Centrelink payments to create alleged overpayment debts.
A class action law suit will allege that the Commonwealth enriched itself unlawfully and must repay debts and provide compensation. The government has admitted more than 160,000 debt notices have been wrong.
“We won’t make any apologies for actually making sure we recover overpaid taxpayers’ money,” said the prime minister.
ME attracts new customers
ME has reported a 7.3 per cent growth in its home loan book, much faster than overall growth in mortgage lending.
ME’s share of the Australian retail home loan market rose from 1.46 per cent last year to 1.53 per cent in June 2019.
“ME has grown strongly in both home loans and household deposits,” said ME CEO Jamie McPhee, “and has increased market share and customer base.”