ELECTRONIC BANKING PROVIDES CONVENIENCE AND VALUE TO CUSTOMERS Sydney, 22 August, 2000: The Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) will tomorrow appear before the Parliamentary Inquiry into Fees on Electronic and Telephone Banking to show that electronic banking services have been widely embraced and provide great value and convenience to customers. The ABA's submission recommends that the Inquiry's deliberations on disclosure be directed to the existing Australian Securities and Investment Commission Fee Disclosure Working Group, which has the objective of providing consumers with the opportunity to better understand the transaction fees structures applying so they can make informed choices. Jeff Oughton, acting Chief Executive of the Australian Bankers' Association (ABA), said: "Our submission shows that, depending on the service provider, up to three-quarters of customers do not pay any fees on personal transaction accounts. For those that do pay fees, the financial services sector provides affordable banking to the community. "For a wide range of account services including electronic, paper and face-to-face transactions, customers pay between 25c and $2.30 a week - a tiny fraction of average earnings, only 0.3%. This is a small fee for transaction services at branches and agencies, more than 9300 ATMs, 265 000 EFTPOS terminals, through fixed and mobile phones and increasingly, the internet. "Customers enjoy good value from their banking and financial providers because they can access their banking services, including cash withdrawals, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at a time and a place that is most convenient in Australia as well as overseas. No-one needs to stand in queues to pay bills, the majority of customers much prefer using the phone, using the B-Pay system, picking up some cash when they're shopping for their groceries, not to mention doing an increasing range of financial services on-line at their own convenience. "Banks also provide a great deal of support for many people with special needs. There are fee-free accounts offered by banks to children, people with disabilities, pensioners and students. Mr Oughton said that financial service providers already provide a high level of disclosure to their customers with brochures to help minimise fees, carry up to date fee information in branches and on-line, and more specific information on the nature of fees incurred. Mr Oughton said calls by some organisations for the premature introduction of real-time fee disclosure could result in customers paying more for burdensome information and this needs to be tested with consumers. "Member banks advise that real-time fee disclosure could be possible in the medium to longer term as web-enabled technologies take hold. The timing and extent of all disclosure must be left to consumer preferences and technological advances, rather than prescriptive codes or legislation." Also see our website: www.bankers.asn.au For further information contact: Heather Wellard ABA PR Phone: 02 8298 0411 Mobile: 0409 830 439     ENDS Sydney, August 22, 2000, 13/00