Most read InFinance articles of 2020

By Lewis Panther

Senior writer, FINSIA

Published Mon 21 Dec

4 mins read

From the coverage of NAB's decision to enrol all 34,000 staff on FINSIA courses, to a feature on the Spanish Flu. Find out the most popular reads.

The most read InFinance article during 2020 was the coverage of NABs decision to enrol all 34,000 staff on FINSIA courses.

The “game changing” move was also picked up by mainstream media who saw it as a positive step that could pave the way for the rest of the industry to take up FINSIA’s professionalisation strategy.

“NAB's move should be the catalyst for the other three major banks – ANZ Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corp – to get on board and set an industry-wide educational standard,” is how the AFR’ Chanticleer columnist saw the move.

“This would not be too difficult given the big four banks are all engaged in some way or other with the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA), which will provide the educational courses to NAB staff.”

A business section commentary in The Australian said: “The aim of NAB’s partnership with FINSIA is to deliver a financial services qualification to help lift the quality and consistency of dealings with customers.”

In an unprecedented year with the banking and financial services sector playing a pivotal role in Team Australia during COVID-19 - and several other of the most read articles highlighted how FINSIA qualifications were a driving factor.

Judo Bank co-founder Joseph Healy has spoken on number of occasions about how he has made FINSIA’s qualifications, which was in the top 10 reads this year.

Professional Banking Fundamentals graduate Samantha O’ Donoghue told us how skills she picked up on the course helped her in her role in rapid response team assisting customers who had been impacted by COVID-19.

Bank of Queensland Money Market & Debt Funding Senior Manager Christopher Bell told how bankers needed to embrace the highest professional standards to enjoy the same levels of trust they once had when they were as highly respected as doctors.

As one of the first Australians to pass FINSIA’s prestigious Chartered Banker qualifications, he had noted that the decline in the image of banking professionals dated back much further than the Royal Commission and the GFC.

While trust in a bank manager was as high as that of doctor and accountant in the 1970s - it had plummeted by the 1990s, he said.

Going back much further, another popular feature published at the beginning of COVID-19 discussed how the stock markets actually boomed during thee Spanish Flu pandemic.

To revisit any of the top 10, click below:-