Every time major banks make an announcement, the world of finance holds their breath. Australia’s biggest banks have announced an AU$1bn investment fund for a new project, which is good. Unfortunately, they will only now start working on instant transfers between banks. The rest of the world has been able to enjoy such a feature thanks to the introduction of Bitcoin several years ago.
Australian Banks Start To Catch Up
Even though we live in the year 2017, there are a lot of countries where instant transfers between banks are still not possible. Australia is one of those regions, although that situation will come to change over the coming months. After all, the major national banks have pooled together AU$1bn to create an instant interbank transfer system.
Right now, a lot of Australians are dissatisfied with the system used by the major banks in the country. With transfers taking anywhere from one to five business days to complete, it is apparent something will need to change sooner rather than later. Creating an inter-bank transfer system is a good step in the right direction, even though such a platform will not be created out of thin air either.
Now that Commonwealth bank of Australia, the ANZ Group, Westpac Banking Corp and National Australia bank have pooled together some resources, development of a new payment system can begin. In fact, they were forced to create this interbank solution after being scrutinized by the government. Up until now, these four banks have been abusing their power in the market, and that situation is no longer sustainable.
Considering how these four banks control 80% of lending in all of Australia, it is not hard to see how they could abuse their power. Moreover, the banks have made very large profits due to their dominance in the mortgage market. More competition in this space would be excellent, although it is very difficult to dethrone the big four.
Making the banking experience in Australia better is a noble plan, even though it may come slightly too late. Instant transfers between banks have always been a critical problem in most countries. Alternative financial solutions, such as peer-to-peer cryptocurrencies, have been offering this feature for quite some time now. Bitcoin, in particular, has been well-received in Australia due to its “superior” traits.
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