RBA interchange fee decision will increase banking costs: CBA exec

Thank you for following our live coverage of The Australian Financial Review Banking Summit this Monday, March 16. Here are some of the highlights from our speakers:

• Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino pointed to two “counterintuitive” macroeconomic trends that he suggests can inform our understanding of how AI will change (or not change) our economy. He also said a universal basic income won’t be needed in an AI future and argued local banks are behind global peers on home loan fraud.

• National Australia Bank chief economist Sally Auld said changes to the capital gains tax discount – which the government is considering ahead of the May budget – could eventually result in higher rental prices.
• Westpac chief executive Anthony Miller said Australia must stop being “afraid of change” on AI and households could withstand two widely tipped interest rate rises, even as fuel prices soar and supply chain shocks threaten to put more pressure on family budgets.
• Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chair John Lonsdale announced a package of reforms aimed at easing the regulatory burden on banks while ensuring the financial system remains resilient amid global crises.
• Macquarie Bank’s head of personal banking, Ben Perham, sought to “debunk some myths” about the success the bank has had compared to the big four banks.
• Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn said trust in institutions is vital as AI disrupts the economy, and that he respects Macquarie Bank boss Shemara Wikramanayake after she called for rivals to “bring it on” in the race for home loan market share.
• Finance Sector Union of Australia national secretary Julia Angrisano said an incoming wave of artificial intelligence agents has workers feeling “incredibly nervous” about their futures.