Brief: Home loan demand rises, St George app and PayPal boss

There are some signs of a rise in demand for home loans, at least outside New South Wales. A monitor published by Veda Advantage and based on inquiries to its credit bureau shows a rise of 1.5 per cent over the year to March 2012 though a rise of only 0.2 per cent in the March quarter. There was a steep fall of more than seven per cent in inquiry levels in New South Wales over the quarter, but rises of between two per cent and seven per cent in most other states. Inquiry levels on other consumer credit fell over the year.

Westpac will introduce a new smartphone application for customers of its St George brand that will allow customers to open new bank accounts. The bank will also provide a budget planer, the Financial Review reported.

PayPal has finally found a replacement for Frerk-Malte Feller, who left the payment services' company at the end of last year. The new managing director is Jeff Clementz, who has been drafted in from PayPal's headquarters, in San Jose, California. Clementz is a nine-year PayPal veteran.