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Tailored approach to group insurance »

Superannuation funds will have to look at tailoring their life insurance offering rather than using a “one size fits all” approach, according to Rice Warner director Richard Weatherhead. “Insurance needs vary depending on income, social security benefits, family status and the type of...

RBA left cash rate unchanged »

Rba Left Cash Rate Unchanged At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.25 per cent. Information becoming available since the December meeting confirms that economic conditions in Europe were weakening late last year, with risks still skewed to the downside....

Credit card interest rate con »

CREDIT card interest rates on premium and gold cards are still at an average of 19 per cent despite the drop in official interest rates to 4.5 per cent, research company CANSTAR has found.  CANSTAR financial analyst Adam Beu said anyone who wanted to avoid...

THE Reserve Bank has cut interest rates for the first since April 2009 »

THE Reserve Bank has cut interest rates for the first since April 2009 in a bid to stimulate the Australian economy, as the world endures ongoing volatile financial market conditions. The decision today to reduce the official cash rate from 4.75 per cent to 4.5 per...

Aussie banks’ funding structures are proving to be the best »

AUSTRALIAN banks’ funding structures are proving to be more resilient to periods of financial stress than their European counterparts, a central bank official says. A key reason for the current financial market volatility is the increased funding costs for some banks, particularly in Europe. Reserve Bank of...

CBA voted the worst bank »

After seemingly endless months of bad publicity over the massive paypacket of its outgoing CEO and growing customer dissatisfaction over rate rises, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the answer is the Commonwealth Bank. The backlash has been so severe that the bank has gone straight...

Interest Rate On Hold »

THE pause button has been kept on rates, with the RBA sidelined on domestic and global economic woes. The Reserve Bank’s board of directors voted to keep the cash rate at 4.75 per cent at its meeting in Sydney today. It’s the ten-month anniversary of last year’s...

Unions push for rate cuts »

TWO of Australia’s biggest unions today are demanding the Reserve Bank cut interest rates as part of a rescue package for Australian manufacturing. The Australian Workers’ Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union warned the mining boom was pushing up the value of the dollar and...

RBA Rates Dilema »

The Reserve Bank Australia (RBA) has been torn between low economic growth and high inflation when deciding rates over the past year, a senior central bank official says. Australia’s annual headline inflation rate was 3.6 per cent in the June quarter and 3.2 per cent in...

Insurance rebate to be means-tested »

MORE than 10 million Australians are now covered by private hospital insurance, the highest rate in a decade. The new figures have prompted Health Minister Nicola Roxon to push ahead with her plan to means-test the private health insurance rebate. The quarterly figures, released today by the...