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Briefs: ANZ slated for human rights abuses, AUD transfer costs questioned, Alipay effort pays off

12 October 2018 6:48PM
A Treasury report has found ANZ failed to meet its own human rights standards in financing a Cambodian sugar plantation and refinery project. The project developer, partially financed by ANZ in 2011, allegedly forcibly displaced families and dispossessed them of their land. There are also complaints that Phnom Penh Sugar Ltd was involved in arbitrary arrests and intimidation of villagers, the use of child labour and dangerous working conditions. ANZ ended the relationship in 2014. The report recommends the bank strengthen its due diligence processes, establish human rights grievances procedures and tighten its internal standards. Australians are being slugged with some of the highest international money transfer costs in the world by the Big Four banks. The most competitive online providers such as XE, World First and OFX will deliver savings to Australians of 4.7 per cent, on average - or more than A$400 on a $10,000 transfer into US dollars, GB pounds or euros. The funds could arrive several days sooner, too, according to financial comparison site Mozo.com.au. The World Bank's Q3 2018 data shows Australia is among the top four most expensive G20 countries to send money from, behind only Canada, Japan and South Africa. This latest data also comes as ACCC is set to investigate foreign currency conversion as a result of uncompetitive pricing from many major players, insurers and brokerages. Online and mobile payments are ramping up in the Asian region, led by Alipay, part owned by China's massive online sales platform, the Alibaba Group. Data released by Alipay, self-proclaimed as the world's largest online and mobile payment platform, shows Australian businesses were among the top 10 regions to benefit from an influx of Chinese visitors during a national holiday in he first week of October, with the ninth highest spend (the other eight were China's home markets and nearby countries). Alipay has over 700 million active users in China and in Australia more than 10,000 merchants accept Alipay payments.

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