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Into the interest rate maze

16 May 12 | Financial literacy is not great in Australia. Worryingly, the latest research by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission shows that there are also many obstacles that make it even harder for people to make good financial decisions. However this may all be about to change thanks largely to the work of the Australian Bankers Association (ABA) and the ANZ bank. An unexpected outcome of ANZ’s decision late last year to formally ‘de-couple’ its interest rate movements from the Reserve Bank (RBA) has been that consumers are now far more knowledgeable about wholesale funding, international market turbulence and fierce competition for deposits. Each time one of the ABA’s or the ANZ’s explanations for why they need to jack rates up even higher is revealed as inaccurate, they retreat into an ever more technical space, further into the interest rate maze, if you like. This time, we are following them into that

  • Post by: Elizabeth McNess
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Rolling the dice on daily deals

08 May 12 | Daily deals – the cut-price temptations that land in my inbox multiple times each day promising magical experiences and indulgent treats. On paper, the deals are usually fairly fantastic, and I enjoy entertaining new experiences or products I might not otherwise consider.However, there’s a vast difference between a great daily deal experience and an awful one, and a lot of the time it’s hard to predict which encounter you’re in for. Recently, I was privy to both ends of the spectrum all within the one weekend, highlighting the daily deal roulette in which we all partake when purchasing fun at a heavily discounted price.My first daily deal voucher was for a cocktail degustation at an inner-city bar in Sydney. Immediately upon arrival, alarm bells started ringing. The staff were rude and argumentative, and I counted at least 25 other patrons in various states of disgruntlement. Many were reluctantly buying drinks

  • Post by: Brendan Mays
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The big four banks are just not that into us

03 May 12 | Australians need to take a reality check on our relationship with the big four banks. If we asked our friends, they would say we are showing signs of unhealthy co-dependency.That we are worth so much more than out-of-cycle interest rate increases and record profits, but still we stick around.If our friends were brutally honest, they would tell us to face facts: the big four banks are just not that into us.The Reserve Bank's latest rate cut suggests it sympathises. Its 0.5 per cent reduction in the cash rate feels like a wake-up call.It comes after months when the major banks have gone their own way on interest rates, with ANZ becoming the de facto price setter through its own rates review on the second Friday of every month.That meeting has already brought ANZ customers two out-of-cycle rate increases.All of this shows arrogance in the way the big four banks treat

  • Post by: Matt Levey
  • 2 Comments
 
 
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Behind the scenes: Electric blanket test

18 Apr 12 | Sometimes I take a moment to remember just how lucky I am to work at CHOICE. During the several years I’ve worked here I’ve managed to go through three or four departments to try my hand at a bunch of different tasks to help members get the facts they need to make a good choice.A quick example of just how diverse our days can be is encapsulated in the following project. I was given the task of managing the electric blanket test. Electric blankets seem a rather innocuous item to me, but many of our members want to know not only whether they are safe, but how easy they are to clean, use and how feature-rich they are.Product researchFirst we have to find out what electric blankets there are in Australia, so our product research team sends surveys off to all the major manufacturers in Australia such as Sunbeam, Breville,

  • Post by: Matthew Steen
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The calorie/kilojoule/cardio/counting conundrum

17 Apr 12 | If you live in NSW, Queensland, SA or the ACT chances are you’ll have seen or will start seeing kilojoule (kJ) counts next to items on fast and snack food menus. That’s because state and territory governments are introducing or have passed legislation making kilojoule labelling mandatory for most larger chains such as Bakers Delight, Subway and, of course, the homes of Colonel Sanders and Ronald McDonald.I’m a much less frequent customer of KFC than I was in days of old but I can’t deny occasional trips to Subway or other nutritionally questionable restaurant chains, particularly after a long day at work. Unfortunately, I can also see as I get older that the body becomes increasingly intolerant of high-energy food, and most treats need to be either cut out or countered with some joule-burning exercise. After all, energy in, energy out – it’s a pretty simple equation.But how can you tell

  • Post by: Sam Butler
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