CommBank is exploring the possibility of replacing thousands of local call centre staff with an AI-customer service centre.
Microsoft has announced a $60 billion share buy back as well as a 10% increase to its quarterly dividend.
Tupperware Brands, the brand behind the kitchen staples, is preparing to file for bankruptcy this week after it struggled to manage more than $700 million USD in debt.
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This is what the flux.
I'm justin and I'm harsh deep and it's Wednesday, the eighteenth of September HD.
New research from Ilion, the credit bureau is just in and it ain't looking good because younger people are experiencing financial hardship at faster rates than any other co op. Get this, There's been a forty two percent increase in the number of gen Z accounts that are behind on loan repayments. Can be down people twenty twenty two. Not the best news flux spam.
One of the reasons why investors love ETFs is because they are a simple way to get a little bit of everything with one move. But what about dividend ETFs. They're the ones that actually pay you cash alongside the potential capital growth. In the Flux app, we take a closer look at the five best performing dividend ETFs and what you need to look out for when investing in them. So make sure to download the Flux app and check it out.
Three cash producing stories today, let's get into it. For our first combank is exploring the possibility of replacing thousands of local call center staff with an AI customer service center.
And by customer service center You mean AI data center? Tell me more.
So we all know Combank, the big yellow bank with seventeen million customers in Australia.
Value at a what being two hundred and forty billion dollars at last check.
That is more than the annual GDP of Greece. Wow.
Now, jazz Combank has always prided themselves on being the most innovative of the big four banks.
And now it's going one step further by trying to automate the customer service experience.
Because who needs empathy when you've got algorithms right exactly? You see, jazz Combank has two four hundred people in its Australian call centers who respond to customer calls, emails and live.
Chat, but now it's looking to replace the local call center staff with AI.
Currently, Combank is testing the AI platform called hey Combank with its employees, who are also customers of the.
Bank, and if successful, it could replace Combank's whole call center and change the way the customers interact with their banks.
So tell me what's the key learning here?
Cause once speculation about AI taking jobs is now unfolding in real time.
Especially in industries where there are a lot of repetitive tasks and technical duties.
I get this HD. According to consulting giant McKinsey, AI might force one point three million Australian workers to transition out of their current jobs by twenty thirty, and.
The occupations expected to be hit the hardest are office support, customer service in sales, and food services.
Actually, it's believe the roughly ten percent of Combank's costs are on call centers alone, so if.
The AI can have that cost it could become a six hundred million dollar cost saving.
But before you at two excited HG, there is still an enormous risk with AI chatbots being the ones that interact with their customers.
What if the bot hallucinates and tell someone their credit card has been.
Had, or what if the AI model makes racist or sexist comments to a customer.
So while there's still an enormous risk involved, Combank is hoping it can roll out this AI model and save big bucks while hopefully providing better service. For our second story. Microsoft has announced a sixty billion dollar share buy back as well as a ten percent increase to its quarterly dividends as a little present to its investors.
Microsoft must be in its Oprah era giving away all that cash. You get some cash, You get some cash. What's the story here.
Well, Microsoft is one of the biggest software companies globally that created the office suite, thing, word, Excel, PowerPoint, and.
Of course paint. You can't forget paint, which we spent hours on during our childhood.
Ah yes, the og photoshop.
Well now, ahgal, Microsoft has got so much cash it kind of doesn't really know what to do with it.
So it's announced a share buyback of sixty billion USD for its shareholders.
And not just that, Microsoft also said it'll be boosting it's quarterly diffidend by ten percent.
And no surprises here, Microsoft shares rose point seven percent off the back of this announcement.
It looks like Microsoft is trying to find ways to get rid of excess cash.
So what's the key learning here?
Sometimes there can be such a thing as too much cash.
Companies are obliged to act in the best interest of shareholders, and holding bucket loads of cash isn't usually the way to do that.
So when a company's got more cash than any there are a few main levers it can pull.
It can invest that money into new initiatives.
Which Microsoft is clearly doing with its mega investments into AI and chat ChiPT.
It can start to offer or increase the size of its divident distributions.
Which Microsoft is done by increasing dividend payouts by ten percent.
Or it can choose to buy back some of its shares from the public market.
Which Microsoft has done as well, so they have gone for the triple wami here. NHG Microsoft are the only major tech company excess cash to deploy yeap.
Earlier this year, Apple announced its largest share buyback to date of one hundred and ten billion US dollars.
And don't forget Nvidia will also announced a fifty billion US dollar buy back this year as well. Sounds like it is buyduck season all across the tech sector.
For our third and final story, toup Aware Brands, the brand behind the kitchen staples, is preparing to file for bankruptcy this week after its struggled to manage more than seven hundred million US dollars in debt.
Not Tuppleware, my entire kitchen God, what is the story here?
Well, Jazz, we of course all all of Tupperware as the kitchen staple in pretty much every household.
Taboy's been around since nineteen forty and it revolutionized the kitchen storage game when it patented the air tight ceiling containers.
Love those containers, but lately things haven't been that tight for them.
No, no, no, Tabwoy Brands has warned it for the past few years, it's been struggling to repay more than seven hundred million US dollars in debts.
And to turn the business around. It made plans to shut down its only US factory.
It laid off almost one hundred and fifty employees and also replaced its CEO and several board members.
But just sadly it was a little too late, because now Tapowoy Brands is preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as this week.
Can't say I'm too surprised, HD Taplewoy brand's been struggling to stay relevant and maintain their market share against competition.
Yeah, they've been trying to reinvent themselves to get their products into the hands of younger customers.
But so far hasn't really been working because door to door sales doesn't quite work the way it used to.
So what's the key learning?
If you build a brand that sells itself, you'll never need a salesforce ever again.
When Tapoway started out, it had a unique marketing strategy because it didn't sell its products through supermarkets or big retailers.
No, they had a pretty unique approach known as tuperware parties.
The party model meant that people, mainly women, would host parties at their homes and the guests would get a look at top boy products up close and personal and jazz. This model has continued into this decade.
In fact, Tapeway brands still had more than three hundred thousand independent salespeople as of twenty twenty two.
But as times and values have changed, Tapooy hasn't been able to keep up the hype around its brand.
And sadly, the unique edge just isn't standing out to competition anymore. Plus out there are techatfs. There is asx two hundred ETFs, there's Nazdek one hundred ETFs, and there's dividend paying atfs. These are the ones where you can receive cash as well as the potential for capital gains. In the Flux app, we take a closer look at the five best performing dividend ETFs. To make sure to download the flux out to check it out.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you on Friday.