Good morning. Optus triple-0 calls stopped connecting for 76 minutes on Friday for about 190,000 customers across Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Police in 3 states ran 44 welfare checks afterwards and found nobody had come to harm, with Optus putting the failure down to a technical fault on its network.
It is the second emergency calling failure in just over a year, and the company is still working through the 21 recommendations handed to it after the last one.
All the headlines and more below...
BIG FOUR BANKS LOST 3% OF CREDIT CARD BALANCES IN A SINGLE MONTH AS REWARDS PROGRAMS GET SLASHED
Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and NAB each saw credit card receivables drop in July compared with June, while ANZ's portfolio fell 1.3%. The pullback came as all four lenders moved to cut their rewards programs ahead of new Reserve Bank rules slashing the interchange fees that funded them.
From 1 October, interchange fees - paid by the retailer's bank to the consumer's card issuer - will be capped at 0.3% for credit transactions, down from 0.8%, and 0.16% for debit, down from 0.2%. Those fees have historically paid for points, perks and cashback offers. The same reform bans surcharging altogether.
RBA data shows the total number of credit and charge cards on issue fell 1.3% to 16.5 million in the year ended 31 July, while debit cards grew 4.2% to 50.9 million. If July's monthly drop holds, CBA, Westpac and NAB would see receivables down 36% on an annualised basis - a sharp reversal from last year, when portfolios were steady or edging up.
AUSTRALIAN NEWS
The Greens and the Coalition have united to block the federal government’s plan to lift the passenger movement charge from $70 to $80, as tourism and airline groups warn it harms competitiveness. AUS
Australia’s evening peak power mix has shifted as batteries supplied a record average 2758MW in August and 49% of firming, sharply reducing gas generation. AUS
Australian AI experts and officials are urging stronger global oversight and diplomatic coordination on AI safety as tech leaders call to slow frontier model development amid escalating security risks. AFR
The government has softened its startup capital gains tax concession by shortening holding periods, scrapping a $10M lifetime cap and extending company eligibility, while fintechs warn uncertainty still threatens investment. LINK
A survey of 2,500 office workers has found widespread AI use on commutes, at home and even in bathrooms, reshaping office demand towards focused individual work and higher-quality space. AFR
FUEL PRICES SET TO RISE 20-30 CENTS AS OIL HITS US$108 AND RATE HIKE ODDS CLIMB TO 80%
The Middle East conflict has pushed Brent crude above US$108 a barrel, its highest since mid-May, setting up unleaded to climb from around $2.10 per litre in major east coast cities to about $2.30 over the next two weeks. Diesel, already over $2.50, could add another 10-30 cents. Every US$1 increase in crude translates roughly to 10 cents at the pump.
The oil spike has pushed US bond yields toward 5% for the first time since 2007, dragging Australia's 10-year rate to 5.38%, a fresh 15-year high. Financial markets are now pricing an 80% chance the Reserve Bank will raise rates for a fourth time on 29 September. The RBA isn't expected to get inflation back to 2.5% until early 2028, nearly 7 years after it began rising.
Vivek Dhar, CBA's head of commodities research, said the bigger worry is refined products, particularly diesel. Unlike crude oil, where supply workarounds exist, there is no alternative to keeping refining capacity running through the Strait of Hormuz disruptions.
COMPANY NEWS
Uber Eats has launched its new Phew brand campaign to drive growth beyond takeaway dinners by tackling Australians’ guilt about choosing delivery convenience and positioning relief as the key emotional benefit. AUS
Anthropic reported blocking several attempts by scientists and state-linked actors to use its Claude AI for biological weapons and conventional arms research. LINK
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises launched a new everyday-value strategy built around 16-inch New York-style pizzas and a simplified menu as it tries to revive sales after a $134M annual loss. AFR
FedEx has locked out about 3,000 Australian drivers and warehouse workers after a 24-hour TWU-led strike over job security, outsourcing and warehouse automation using collaborative robots. LINK
Oracle lifted expected costs for its FY27 restructuring plan to about $2.8B after adding roughly $700M, as it cuts jobs while boosting AI-related investment. LINK
ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos has outlined an ambitious vision to leverage the bank’s scale in Australia and NZ and its institutional strength in Asia after taking the top job. LINK
Samsung mocked Apple’s new iPhone Duo foldable, priced from $3,499, with global guerrilla ads as the US$38.7B fold phone market grows 30% this year. AUS
NRMA Insurance reported that Australian EV purchase interest has climbed from 20% to 31% as lower running costs and more models lure buyers, while charging access and battery concerns still deter some. LINK
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Odd Pick: A material that gets better at conducting electricity the thinner you slice it, and at 20 nanometres it leaves copper behind.
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