THE days of retail giants such as Harvey Norman, Woolworths and Coles entering the non-bank financial industry are not far away.
That is unless they are already here.
Home Building Society general manager Jim Freemantle said it was inevitable retailers would enter the financial markets.
“They have the distribution locations and the throughput of people,” Mr Freemantle said.
“It’s the idea of one-stop shopping. Do your banking while you shop for your groceries.”
Police and Nurses Credit Society is already heading down the retail road.
Police and Nurses general manager Fred Huis said its Moneybox branches – a bank within a supermarket space – would completely replace its branches in the next two years.
Mr Huis said the outlets were not so much about cash services but more to do with value-added services.
“Margins are narrowing for banks and non-bank financial institutions and the manner in which services are supplied needed to be changed,” he said.
“People don’t go to banks that much for day-to-day transactions – they are using electronic methods and credit cards.
“Sales and service centres are a move away from standard banks. Moneybox provides financial planning, insurance, lending, term deposits and the like.
“With the many electronic methods now available, there is simply no need for a cash holding facility.
“People can now use the deposit facility under giro post.”
Mr Huis said BankWest and Colonial had been using a system similar to Moneybox for the past few years.
“This is the way banking and financial services are going.”
He said only the Perth head office and Fremantle branches of Police and Nurses Credit Society would remain within two years.
Two more Moneybox outlets will be opened in Perth in the next few months.
There are currently eight in the metropolitan area.
