December 30th, 2009 Pete
The following information was sourced from an Australian ANZ customer.
WARNING: Anyone who holds any ANZ credit cards with automatic payment set up.
Review your December statement very carefully. Apparently ANZ had a problem with automatic payments in December which has impacted multiple customers.
The only hint my source received was a “late payment fee” on a card that is setup for automatic payment within the ANZ system.
ANZ are apparently aware of the problem, but don’t appear to be interested in fixing it proactively, only when customers point it out to them for their particular accounts.
At the time of writing, there is nothing on the front page of the ANZ site to suggest they are communicating the December glitch to customers or the public via their site.
Send this information to any ANZ customers you might know, we need to put pressure on big banks who’ve all made profits during the economic downturn at the expense of the general public and small businesses. If they are charging late payment fees for faults in their own systems, then this is just another way they profit from our inaction.
Keep the bastards honest.
UPDATE: My source further reveals the following:
The call centre operator in credit card solutions said that they were able to resolve the problem quickly because they (ANZ) are aware of the problem as it impacted a number of other customers as well.
My source:
1 – Saw unexpected “late payment fee” (auto payment was up to 40+ iterations on monthly cycle, so it has been there a long time…)
2 – Phoned bank to ask (a) why the payment was not processed, and (b) why the fee should be paid if they did nothing different, ie: the auto-payment is not the responsibility of ANZ customers.
3 – Got put through to credit card solutions after initial complaint about scenario
4 – Credit card solutions person was very helpful and advised on how to correct the problem. Apparently the problem impacts OLD / long-standing auto-payments.
5 – Got put back to telephone banking staff to setup a new auto-payment.
6 – Noticed that the new auto-payment has (a) different structure for ID from old one, and (b) has different terminology to old one. New payment IDs are much longer and alphanumeric versus simple 4-digit numeric. Old description read as balance due whereas new description says “FULL balance”, which may or may not be the same dollar figure… still waiting to see what happens in January…
So, the short answers are;
1. yes, they confirmed that the problem was with the old auto-payments
2. yes, they advised that more than just my source’s account was impacted
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June 2nd, 2009 Beardy
by guestblogger “Beardy”
—
I can’t help but wonder whether the US tax payer would have voted for a rescue package for “the largest industrial company (and fourth-largest overall) to seek bankruptcy protection in the history of American business” ?
So the US government (ie: the US tax payer) will own 60% of GM after the deal completes. As for Canadians buying into this, it seems “odd” even factoring in the close economic/industrial ties between the 2 countries.
The rescue of GM in the United States is being led by an unlikely coalition of the U.S. and Canadian governments and the company’s employees and creditors.
So as Chrysler emerges from a major restructuring and sell-off (mostly to Fiat) and GM are entering a major fire sale. Toyota has made the first loss in 70 years… BMW, Mercedes, VW, Ford, Peugeot, Saab, Fiat, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Kia ALL posted losses… Volvo, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Jaguar, Rover have all gone the way of the dodo and been absorbed by bigger corporations. The only major standouts are Audi and Hyundai which posted a (reduced) profits in the first quarter of 2009 !??!?
GM’s Australian operations in the Holden division look to survive the blood-letting in their US parent (for now).
The obvious question to ask is, with all the flow-on effects of losses in so many large industrial corporations, how long will the effects of this economic crisis be felt… 10 years, 20 years, more ? If you think that is extreme, consider the following:
- US financial sector in chaos (still) despite USD$ billions being pumped into propping them up by the Fed (US govt federal reserve).
- Major global corporations being bailed out with massive loans of USD$ billions to aid restructuring.
- Governments from Australia, America, Japan, Britain, Germany, Italy, India, Russia, etc. have all ploughed billions of money into their economies to soften the hit on their local industries and populaces.
- ALL the above money is being borrowed… from somewhere….
Basic economics says if you borrow money, it always comes with strings and/or interest…. eventually you have to pay the piper. With such large percentages of GDP being leveraged into these “stimulus packages” and bail-outs, how far into our future have we mortgaged ourselves through the decisions of our governments ? Note that it does not matter whether the current parties in power are left-wing (extreme=Communist) or right-wing (extreme=Fascist), the decisions have been the same. That only goes to prove that no matter what your political persuasion, your pet politicians are mortgaging your future…. So how does it feel to be deeper in debt without having spent any money yourself ?
“Europe jobs at risk as GM files for bankruptcy”
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/06/01/gm.europe/index.html
“Holden ‘strong’ despite GM bankruptcy”
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/holden-strong-despite-gm-bankruptcy-20090602-btc3.html
-Beardy
Posted in Economic Downturn | Comments Off
February 20th, 2009 Beardy
Disclaimer: Probably not healthy to read if you are prone to depression….
From the slashdot article:
Wait till:
1. Your company decides to send the work you’re doing overseas.
2. You get over 40.
3. Your company decides that it is switching technology and is unwilling to train you.
4. Your company decides that it needs new college graduates because they are the ones that are up to date with current technology.
5. You burn out after having to work 60 hours a week for several years straight. Not necessarily because you have to, but because the bosses equate time in the office with amount of work and the fact that they always give unreasonable deadlines.
You will change your tune.
Other than that, I agree with you. Competing in the Global economy, especially in IT, is extremely difficult and competitive. I don’t care what you do or how good you are, one day, you will lose out to cheaper folks overseas – exception: defence work. It is inevitable.
The question that begs is how to re-skill or re-focus within the IT industry to survive the never-ending spiral of offshoring and commoditisation of all things IT.
A very depressing article published on The Register last month highlighted the real problem. Since globalisation is a fact of life in all industries but the world financial systems are still in economic melt-down, companies will seek ANY means (fair or foul) to reduce costs in an effort to survive. As Sun recently demonstrated by culling entire divisions from VP down to pleb, nobody is immune to the effects.
So we come back to the real question. No position in a company is forever (not even CEO or MD). To survive in IT in Western countries over the next few years will require a change of approach. Entering as a graduate developer and staying until you retire or *want* to move on is not an option. Developing skills across a range of fields spreads most peoples’ capabilities too thin to not end up being the classic “Jack of all trades, master of none”. Become incompetent in the West and you will be shown the door fast. So what to do ?
Become an IT chameleon.
Keep your skills up to date. Learn and adapt as technologies move. Don’t get sucked in too deeply into “flavour of the month” technologies (but you will still need to know something about them). And above all, don’t become complacent.
“How Do You Document Technical Procedures” — Slashdot
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=09/02/19/1631231
“2009 – Thomas the Tank’s journey to IT Hell” — The Register
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2009/01/02/it_trends_2009_fforecast/
The moral is don’t get angry, depressed or worried. Evolve.
-Beardy.
Posted in Economic Downturn | Comments Off
January 21st, 2009 Beardy
For Satyam, the news just keeps getting worse as the weeks pass….
In the wake of the revelation about the “missing billion” or “corporate fraud” (depending on who you believe), Satyam is now in the firing line of the US SEC since the company is bound to American legal jurisdiction….
The NAB is now facing a painful decision regarding their offshoring plans and QANTAS is “monitoring” the situation. “US-based State Farm Insurance” has terminated their contract and surely other corporate clients are reviewing their offshoring arrangements.
Let us step back a bit and look at this…..
UK, USA and Australian corporate law requires company directors to follow fairly strict guidelines in terms of corporate governance to ensure the protection for both shareholders and customers. Outsourcing within the same country (read “legal jurisdiction”) provides a safety net for companies since the vendors that pick up the outsourcing contracts are bound by the same laws.
For countries with large technology sectors, offshoring is only attractive on a cost basis. Due to the implicit disconnect created by national boundaries and cultures, there is little if any supportable evidence of any other advantages. The sole obvious exception being companies looking to provide global 24×7 support from multiple timezones.
Now factor in the problems of legal jurisdiction and international law, especially the difficulties in making and launching a case that requires extradition from one jurisdiction to another. If the country is China, forget it (see reference below), otherwise it will depend on the existence of treaties between the various countries.
So, if a company chooses to offshore+outsource any section of their business, they had better be sure that the contract between them and the outsourcing vendor is binding in both legal jurisdictions and provides sufficient protection and controls. If they fail to do so, the directors could potentially be liable if it all goes pear-shaped.
Does make a person wonder if the “cost savings” look quite so appealing to the “brains trust” in NAB, QANTAS, Telstra, etc, etc in the light of the Satyam issues…. the global economic meltdown is only going to further stress company profits and that would include outsourcing vendors…. they are after all “businesses” / “companies”….
…so what happens if your outsourcing vendor goes belly-up ?
“Most of the staff displaced by ITO wave 1 have been given redundancy packages and long left the NAB” the source said. It would take at least 12 months and considerable expense to bring ITO wave 1 applications back in-house.”
“NAB faces losses over Satyam fraud” — Australian IT
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24942112-15306,00.html
“Satyam had used forged documents from four banks including Citigroup Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc to inflate assets by $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing an unidentified person familiar with India’s probe.”
“Satyam Said to Draw SEC Scrutiny in Accounting Case” — Bloomberg
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apfYFckIRykY&refer=home>
“…US-based State Farm Insurance terminated its technology outsourcing contract with India’s fourth-largest software group by revenue.”
“Major US client deserts Satyam” — Financial Times (FT.com)
<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b7601f44-e691-11dd-8e4f-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1>
“Article 8 The request for extradition made by a foreign state to the People’s Republic of China shall be rejected if:
??(1) the person sought is a national of the People’s Republic of China under the laws of the People’s Republic of China;”
“Extradition Law of the People’s Republic of China (Order of the President No.42)”
<http://english.gov.cn/laws/2005-09/22/content_68710.htm>
I’m not a lawyer, but the above statement doesn’t leave a lot of “wriggle room” for appeal…
-Beardy
Posted in Economic Downturn | Comments Off
January 19th, 2009 Beardy
Ok, so analysts are all predicting dire things for the Oz economy across the board, even the so-called “resource rich” states of WA and QLD heading for a pounding in line with the decline in commodity prices. Let’s face it, we knew something was weird in the commodity area when petrol prices dropped off from their record highs late last year.
So what can we expect for 2009?
If the analysts are right and China does indeed shave off some 3%-to-4% of their immigrant workforce and India continues down the road to being an economic basket case*, then the future does look somewhat bleak. Bear in mind that some of Japan’s biggest companies are posting losses for the first time in their history (eg: Toyota).
On the “up” side, those fortunate few who survive the worldwide job cull should find themselves in a good position to improve their net wealth during the recovery…. of course, how may of us will still have a job let alone any cash reserves by the time this recession passes is anyone’s guess….
Summary:
- Real Estate prices set to drop
- Mortgage defaults set to rise
- Pay rates set to drop (eg: “take a percentage pay cut or a 100% one, ie: leave”…)
- Share markets on continuing slide
- Governments pumping billions into economies with little or no positive effects…
- Federal / Central banks slashing interest rates with little or no positive effects…
The only sector that seems relatively immune is the arms/weapons manufacturing industry….. um, dunno ’bout the rest of you, but that is more than a little disturbing… (for those with an interest in history…. remember, it tends to repeat…)
“FORTUNE 500 : Position #87. General Dynamics” – CNN
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/169.html
“Federal budget is buggered: report” – BrisbaneTimes
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/business/federal-budget-is-buggered-report/2009/01/19/1232213481079.html
“Spectre of 50m job losses looms in China” – BrisbaneTimes
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/business/spectre-of-50m-job-losses-looms-in-china/2009/01/19/1232213484482.html
“Mortgage arrears ‘to hit 500,000′” (in India) – BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7789274.stm
“Japan forecasts no growth in 2009″ – BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7791068.stm
“Toyota forecasts loss as sales slide” – CNN
http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/22/news/companies/toyota/
Posted in Economic Downturn | 1 Comment »
