BankWest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bank of Western Australia | |
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| Type | Subsidiary of HBOS |
| Founded | 1895 |
| Headquarters |  Perth, Western Australia |
| Key people | Simon Walsh (MD) Paul Clark Ian Corfield Jason White |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Products | Transaction Account Savings Account Home Loans Term Deposits Credit Cards |
| Revenue | ▲ $552 million AUD before tax (2005) |
| Website | www.bankwest.com.au |
Bank of Western Australia (commonly known as BankWest) is a full service bank based in Perth, Western Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of HBOS Australia Pty Ltd (HBOS Australia), which also holds three other financial services companies: Capital Finance Australia Limited (Capital Finance); St Andrew's Australia Pty Ltd (St Andrew's); and BOS International (Australia) Ltd (BOS International). HBOS Australia is a subsidiary of HBOS plc of the UK.
Offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney currently provide interstate services to BankWest customers. On the 12th July 2007, BankWest announced their “Banking Refreshed” initiative. It consists of the roll out of 160 new branches across NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia over the next 3 – 4 years, with the aim to win customers from the ‘Big 4’ banks.
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[edit] Products & Services
BankWest offers a full range of banking products, including loans, credit cards transaction and savings accounts. Some of their more notable products are:
- BankWest Telenet Saver
- BankWest Regular Saver
- BankWest Lite Mastercard
- BankWest More Mastercard
- BankWest Lite Homeloan
BankWest has also recently released the BankWest Regular Saver account, which offers a standard rate of 9.00% if a minimum of $50 and maximum of $500 is deposited each month, and no withdrawals are made. This is advertised as the highest interest rate for a savings account in Australia. The maximum initial deposit allowed is also $500, and after 12 months the entire balance is "swept" out of the account and into a nominated linked facility.
[edit] Future
Late in 2006, BankWest announced it would be leaving their landmark tower, in favour of a new complex at Raine Square.
In early June 2008, widespread reports began to circulate of HBOS intent to sell their Bankwest subsidiary. This was met by a 10 point drop in HBOS stock value. Whilst the bank declined to comment on the reports, head of business deposits and transactional services Gary Johnson noted that Bankwest is "very strong" (pointing to the bank's A+ credit rating), and head of retail mortgages and savings Paul Vivian went on to comment "I think that we're as safe as any of the major banks in Australia."[1]
[edit] History
The Government of Western Australia established the bank in 1895 as the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia as a rural lender to support the State's farming industries. Technically it was not a bank in that it did not collect deposits from the public, its liabilities being government bonds. It was a government instrumentality that lent exclusively to farmers.
In 1945, it became a full trading bank and changed its name to the Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia (aka R&I Bank). This enabled it to expand its retail and commercial banking services throughout the state.
The Bank incorporated in 1990, and then in 1994 changed its name to the Bank of Western Australia Limited, with the trading name BankWest, in preparation for privatisation. In December 1995 Bank of Scotland acquired the operation, and as part of the sale agreement, offered 49 per cent of the shares in BankWest to the public. BankWest shares listed on the Australian Stock Exchange on February 1, 1996.
In 2001 Halifax Group (a large UK financial institution) merged with Bank of Scotland to form HBOS plc. HBOS then acquired all outstanding shares to make Bank of Western Australia its wholly owned subsidiary.
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
- Spillman, Ken. 1989. Horizons: A History of the Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia. Perth: University of Western Australia Press.
[edit] References
- ^ Bankwest says it's safe despite sale rumours. The Australian. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
[edit] External links
- BankWest - Official site
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