Australian banks retain digital leadership
Australian banks continue to excel in digital account opening capabilities compared to their North American and European counterparts, according to the third annual Avoka Digital Sales Report that assessed the 50 largest banks in these regions.
The study analysed the breadth of offer and ease of use of the online platforms, with 11 Australian banks evaluated in the report.
Every region showed noticeable progress in the digital business banking sector, with worldwide increases of 300 per cent for online sales readiness, reflecting the growing importance of improving customer experience.
Chief executive of Avoka, Phil Copeland, said the report showed that banks have accepted that online account opening is a “must have”, and the focus is now on whether the largest banks could transform their entire customer engagement across all product lines.
“Australian banks have led their global counterparts in offering digital sales in the past three years we have conducted this study, and the leadership continued in 2018,” said Copeland. “For personal banking, nearly every flagship product ranks high in quality of experience.”
Copeland said while Australia was leading, the other regions were catching up.
Recommended for you
The FAAA has written to over 2,000 affected members to warn them of the upcoming education deadline with the organisation warning the numbers yet to meet the requirements are “very, very high” with just six weeks to go.
HUB24 has taken an equity stake in Finura Group’s digital arm to accelerate the development of its SaaS platform, triggering the separation of Finura’s advisory business.
Coastal Advice Group has announced a rebrand to mark the next phase of the firm as it pushes to hit a target of 15 acquisitions in FY25-26, expanding its national reach across Australia.
Despite the advent of new advice technologies which promise to streamline the adviser-client relationship, research by Praemium and CoreData has found the trust and human relationship is most valued by clients.

