People power: The changing face of customer-owned lenders
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The mutuals have undergone a huge amount of change in the past year, with lenders merging, new tech being released, and brokers highly rating their experiences with them.
In December 2020, as Australia was closing off one of the most disruptive years on record, the Customer Owned Banking Association was holding its annual conference. It was here when the deputy chair of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), John Lonsdale, warned that change may need to come in the mutual bank space in order for the sector to survive.
Noting that the coronavirus pandemic had resulted in a (somewhat short-lived) economic downturn and increased the need for lenders to have a digital offering, Mr Lonsdale suggested that a large number of the small banks – and not only mutuals – have business models that were “challenged” in the current environment.
Mortgage Business
Bank completes merger with credit union By Annie Kane 04 May 2021
A mutual bank has welcomed 3,000 new members after completing its merger with a credit co-operative.
Firefighters Mutual Bank, a division of Teachers Mutual Bank Ltd, has welcomed the new members after finalising the data transfer to formalise its merger with Firefighters Credit Co-operative Ltd.
All of the former Firefighters Credit Co-operative members are therefore now part of Firefighters Mutual Bank and have access to its range of products and services.
This includes a wider range than was available under the co-operative, including the ability to apply for fixed rate loans and credit cards, access to a mobile banking app, free and unlimited ATM withdrawals, and access to its new payments platform (NPP).
A credit union and a bank have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enter merger discussions. Victorian-based Pulse Credit Union Limited and Teachers Mutual Bank Limited (TMBL) have announced the