🗞️ Unsolicited mail

Good morning. eBay and three former executives have agreed to pay US$55.7 million to a couple they targeted in one of the strangest corporate harassment campaigns on record.

After the couple's newsletter ran critical coverage of eBay, staff sent them live cockroaches, fly larvae and a bloody pig mask, and even travelled cross-country to put a GPS tracker on their car.

Seven employees pleaded guilty and served prison time, and the settlement finally closes a case that began with a then-CEO texting that it was time to "take her down".

All the headlines and more below...

BANKS PAID $55M IN OFFSET FAILURES - SOME CUSTOMERS LOST $17,000

ASIC reviewed 8 banks holding over 70% of Australia's $2.5 trillion home loan market and found systemic weaknesses in how offset accounts are set up, monitored and managed.

Loan repayments stay the same while customers pay more interest and take longer to clear the debt. In one case, a customer paid over $3,500 in extra interest across a single month after their account was incorrectly de-linked.

As of March this year, Australians held almost $350B in offset accounts, up 28% in 2 years. Around 40% of Australian mortgage holders now use them.

ASIC found some banks struggled to identify whether a customer had requested an offset account, were slow to fix errors and compensate affected customers, and did not provide accessible information online.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

• The ATO is warning small business owners and soloists not to rely on AI or finfluencers for tax advice as more than 100 million data pieces pre-fill returns. LINK

• A growing wave of overseas retailers is opening bricks-and-mortar stores in Australia as Alo Yoga, Loro Piana and Chow Tai Fook launch their first local outlets. LINK

• More than 50% of Australians do not understand how its interest rate rises fight still-elevated inflation. LINK

• Investment banks are losing senior research talent as AI-driven data centre developers lure staff with more generous compensation. LINK

• Chinese car makers will supply about 58% of Australian vehicle imports, or nearly 900,000 cars, by 2035 as booming electric vehicle demand and high fuel prices reshape the market. LINK

CBA REPLACED HUNDREDS OF OFFSHORE ROLES WITH AI

Hundreds of overseas workers supporting Commonwealth Bank's chat service have lost their jobs after the bank incorporated AI into the system, according to people familiar with the work. Many of the affected workers were contractors at a call centre near Johannesburg run by South African outsourcing company Nutun.

Current and former Nutun employees said AI was handling a growing share of their work as CBA scaled back its contract with the company. One person familiar with the operation said the changes would save the bank tens of millions of dollars a year.

CBA has not publicly commented on the workforce reduction.

COMPANY NEWS

• KPMG Australia is facing renewed scrutiny of its governance as a second independent South ASPAC board member resigns and a former NAB whistleblower is appointed to review misconduct handling. LINK

• Telstra expanded its Starlink-powered satellite service to support selected mapping, messaging, weather and fitness apps in remote Australia while still not enabling Triple Zero emergency calls. LINK

• Kmart and Target have launched $89 Anko smart glasses in Australia with an 8 megapixel camera and 1080p video as public concern over covert recording grows. LINK

• Apple briefly became the world’s most valuable company with a market capitalisation above US$5T as strong product demand and avoiding heavy AI spending attract investors. LINK

• Visa has announced plans to cut 7% of its workforce, or about 2,600 jobs, mainly in technology and product teams as it seeks greater efficiency and reallocates investment. LINK

• Coca-Cola reported Q2 revenue up 7% to US$13.4B and net income up 16% to US$4.4B, as FIFA World Cup campaigns lifted Coke and Powerade volumes. LINK

• Mondelez International (the owner of Oreo) has beaten estimates for Q2 as steady demand for chocolates and biscuits and a global cocoa surplus grew net revenue. LINK

• The new Qantas Project Sunrise test aircraft completed an ultra-long-haul flight of 24 hours 25 minutes from Sydney to Toulouse via the US and UK, attracting 3.6 million online trackers. LINK

• Origin Energy has confirmed that a cyberattack accessed personal data of about 900,000 current and former customers after an earlier July warning was initially deemed not credible. LINK

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CHART OF THE DAY

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Editor’s Pick: A man has set a Guinness World Records mark by eating 15 fish fingers in 60 seconds after winning £98,000 on ITV show The 1% Club.

Draft Pick: Lachlan Kennedy and Torrie Lewis smashed national 100m records while Ky Robinson and two gymnasts claimed gold.

Doctor’s Pick: Black sesame for grey hair: does it actually work?

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