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NAB's UBank is not ready for market
2 October 2008 |
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| National Australia Bank chose the height of the second stage of the great credit crunch as the right time to introduce its alternative retail bank brand UBank to the Australian market. The first product for NAB's UBank is an aggressively priced three-month term deposit and well-priced 6-month, 9-month and 12-month term deposits. Why NAB chose yesterday to introduce the brand isn't clear. The bank does not seem to have looked for much free media, nor received much.UBank made its debut yesterday with one element under prepared. The UBank website this morning noted that "we don't have internet banking for UBank term deposits at the moment" and invites customers to ring the bank instead. One difference in the UBank service proposition is that the bank plans to staff the call centres 24 hours a day, seven days a week. NAB still shuts its call centres for its core brand at 8pm in eastern Australia (or 5pm in Western Australia during the summer months) and still offers no service over weekends.UBank is the first product managed under the wing of what NAB was referring to as Star Direct. The bank's worked on this concept for the last 18 months or more. Part of the vision for Star Direct and now UBank appears to be to foster a somewhat independent culture.The business has its own management board and will have to compete for services (through the bank's new servicing division) as well as funding on commercial terms (through the deposit market or through the NAB treasury) when it's ready to introduce lending products. Greg Sutherland, is executive general manager of Star Direct and marketing while Gerd Schenkel is general manager, UBank.The bank has not fulfilled requests for a management briefing on UBank over several weeks and declined to do so again yesterday. In his blog The Bank Channel NAB channel marketing executive Rob Findlay wrote yesterday that UBank offers the first straight through processing for term deposits, where applicants can make immediate payment via BPay upon submitting their application. Midland Bank pioneered round the clock phone-based service under an alternate bank brand in Britain more than 15 years ago. Many banks in various markets have attempted to copy the idea with mixed results.Secondary bank brands have limited success in the Australian market. ANZ continues to plug away with one direct brand introduced a couple of years ago, and aimed at price sensitive home loan customers (and which also offers a high yield savings account). Commonwealth Bank's Homepath, aimed at the same niche, is essentially invisible almost a decade after its debut. More than a decade ago Advance Bank tried the same thing through the One World brand, which faded quickly. |
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| Source : The Sheet |
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| 31 October 2008 | - Westpac profits and bad debts up |
| | - Westpac grows deposits |
| | - Citibank focussing on mortgages |
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| 30 October 2008 | - St George grows deposits but not loans |
| | - Reverse mortgages lose popularity |
| | - Bank defends no rate cuts on credit cards |
| | - No penalty fee for union members |
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| 29 October 2008 | - Westpac/BT have learnt the liquidity lesson |
| | - Suncorp for sale again |
| | - Record profit posted by St George |
| | - Deposit guarantee clarified but questions remain |
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| 28 October 2008 | - Westpac on NSW sales blitz |
| | - St George will rejuvenate Westpac |
| | - Government rejects extending deposit guarantee |
| | - CBA shocks investors by freezing CFS trust |
| | - Bendigo boasts strong deposit growth |
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| 27 October 2008 | - GE Money cuts and runs |
| | - Govt guarantee creates surge in bank deposits |
| | - Aussie Home Loans cuts rates again |
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| 23 October 2008 | - Swan approves Westpac plus St George |
| | - CBA tree dispute could be costly for Bendigo |
| | - Banks go to Canberra for crisis talks on guarantee |
| | - ANZ profit down 21 per cent |
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| 22 October 2008 | - Banks start sacking staff |
| | - Westpac/St George cut rates |
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| 21 October 2008 | - RBA hoses down big rate cut expectations |
| | - NAB's bad debts up to $2.5 billion |
| | - Debtors have rights under banking code |
| | - Consolidation continues in banking industry |
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| 20 October 2008 | - Rising inflation to moderate rate cuts |
| | - NAB earnings down twenty per cent |
| | - ING reassures Australian depositors |
| | - Commonwealth cuts home loan rates |
| | - Nab cuts rates on its home loans |
| | - ANZ Cuts Interest Rates |
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| 19 October 2008 | - Relief for first home buyers |
| | - NAB follows ANZ in cutting rates again |
| | - CommBank calls halt to HomePath experiment |
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| 16 October 2008 | - Refused bail for bank fraud |
| | - NAB's debt collector accused of bad behaviour |
| | - NAB hording cash as earnings fall |
| | - NAB credit rating under threat |
| | - Interest rates to plummet to near zero |
| | - Aussie customer files left out for recycling |
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| 15 October 2008 | - Savings account interest rates slashed |
| | - Government gives powers to bank regulator |
| | - Eight per cent term deposits ending soon |
| | - Credit Unions, small banks talk mergers |
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| 14 October 2008 | - Pensioners get Christmas bonus |
| | - No rate cut for GE's mortgage managers |
| | - Commonwealth and ANZ called on to end penalty fees |
| | - Banks make big cuts to fixed rate mortgages |
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| 13 October 2008 | - SGB's business customers oppose WBC's takeover |
| | - Credit unions take on the big banks |
| | - Lenders will be forced to be responsible |
| | - Rudd Government will intervene to save non-banks |
| | - Rudd- All deposits now government guaranteed |
| | - Rudd- All deposits now government guaranteed |
| | - Credit Card rates slow to change |
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| 12 October 2008 | - Only Westpac business customers get rate cuts |
| | - Interest free deals scaled back |
| | - Rates to fall to five per cent by Christmas |
| | - Banks welcome government intervention |
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| 10 October 2008 | - Do You Know Your Banks Credit Rating |
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| 09 October 2008 | - Worried depositors reassured by bank staff |
| | - Victoria Teachers CU riding out the credit crunch |
| | - Stability overrides competition concerns |
| | - NAB, Bankwest and Bendigo cut rates one week late |
| | - Banks welcome increase in deposits |
| | - Bank of Queensland losing in the Sydney market |
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| 08 October 2008 | - Westpac cuts rates for business |
| | - Property prices to hold up over next two years |
| | - Mortgage market still weak |
| | - Banks cut deposit rates |
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| 07 October 2008 | - CBA snatches BankWest |
| | - Commonwealth set to dominate the market |
| | - No rate relief on credit cards or loans |
| | - Big banks cut rates by 0.8 per cent |
| | - Banks promise to make up rate cuts |
| | - Westpac Cuts Rates by 80 Basis Points |
| | - Aussie Home Loans To Pass On 75 Basis Points |
| | - RBA Cuts Cash Rate by One Percent |
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| 06 October 2008 | - Today's rate cut to deliver $50 a month |
| | - First home buyers accounts have catches |
| | - Commonwealth grabs BankWest |
| | - Commbank execs focus on customers |
| | - BankWest and Ubank top the charts for depositors |
| | - ANZ, CBA jockey for Suncorp |
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| 03 October 2008 | - Banks say no to big rate cuts |
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| 02 October 2008 | - UBank offers 8.5% on deposits for next two weeks |
| | - NAB launches UBank brand |
| | - Majors circle BankWest and Suncorp |
| | - Banks won't pass on rate cuts |
| | - All mums are not equal |
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| 01 October 2008 | - Rates to fall 0.5 per cent next week |
| | - Promotional rates work for BankWest and ING |
| | - NAB loses market share in business banking |
| | - NAB is least popular bank |
| | - Majors set for bidding war on BankWest |
| | - Commonwealth leads on deposits |
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