Technology breaking barriers in the bush

While there's nothing new about internet banking any more, the digital age is presenting new options to improve business efficiency almost every month.

Assuming the local phone network signal is adequate, real-time banking advances using mobile smart phone and tablet devices give farmers and farm-related businesses the chance to make transactions, follow their accounts or study investment options while well away from the farm office or their nearest bank branch.

"I've been in China travelling with clients doing their weekly payroll for the business back in rural Australia without any third party involvement or contact with somebody back at the office," said National Australia Bank agribusiness general manager Khan Horne.

"Distance is a fact of life in the ag sector - it's made a lot of our client base earlier adapters to the digital banking age," he said.

"Computers will never replace relationship banking and the importance of face-to-face conversations with clients, or a board presentation, or talking with a farming family at the kitchen table, but technology is certainly helping us add depth to those relationships.

"It could be improving your money management flexibility or giving you and your banker better access to economic reports, as well as cutting travel time and costs."

Mr Horne said growth in electronic banking options had also reduced the risks associated with previously having multiple people handling funds or account information, or the dangers arising from a lost cheque book or stolen credit cards.

An overhauled Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (CBA) information technology system last year laid new foundations for its core banking offering - real time money transactions between CBA customers.

Electronic payments for goods bought from a rural supplies merchant now go straight into that CBA client's account, thereby saving the retailer real money in annual overdraft costs, which otherwise can mount up when financial transactions have to wait over a weekend (48 hours or more) to be batch processed conventionally.

"That's at least an extra 104 days a year where a business is now saving money on its overdraft, or has extra funds in a credit account," said CBA's executive general manager for regional and agribusiness banking Geoff Wearne.

Producers receiving payment for a truck-load of hay, grain or live- stock will also see the funds in their account the same day, if both the seller and buyer are CBA customers.

CBA's real time "every day banking" settlement breakthrough has been a game changer for the industry, according to managing director, Ian Narev who has credited it with helping to win new small business customers, build business account volumes and grow the bank's business lending book five times faster than the industry average last year.

NAB is enjoying similar benefits from its links with the UnionPay debit card network in China, giving its ag and food clients the ability to take instant payments or part payments from Chinese importers as soon as an export deal is signed.

CBA has also used its IT investment to cut the time taken for equipment lending approvals, by-passing time consuming paper documentation processes with its SmartSign alter- native, accessed via its CommBiz platform on the mobile phone network.

Mr Wearne said a document review and signing process that typically took about three or four days to mail back and forth to finalise the tractor purchase could now be streamlined into three or four hours.

Suncorp Bank's agribusiness head Greg Leahy said the variety of money management and payment opportunities available via mobile network banking had exploded in the past few years.

"Internet based technology offerings vary between banking institutions, but they've have pretty much become your licence to play in the industry," he said.

"We're developing a phone app that allows buyers to make small sum Eftpos transfers via their mobile phone.

"We've got business accounting systems that link direct to handle supplier invoices, and payroll management systems.

"There's new stuff emerging all the time, and in many cases it's probably not as hard to understand as a lot of the technology farmers are already dealing with in the cab of their tractor or harvester."