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
BT is to launch a new low-cost “Focus” investment menu for its Panorama platform this October, in partnership with Vanguard, seeking to compete with industry superannuation funds.
Net gains of financial advisers have already doubled since the start of FY25, according to this week’s Padua Wealth Data, with momentum gathering pace far faster than the previous financial year.
National advice firm MiQ Private Wealth has appointed a new chief executive to lead the business through a “transformative era” after penning a partnership deal with AZ NGA earlier this month.
WT Financial’s managing director, Keith Cullen, believes the firm’s Hubco model with Merchant Wealth Partners will be a “repeatable growth model” for the business as it scales its adviser numbers.