Non-major bank to merge with credit union

The members of Intech Credit Union voted in support of a merger with Bank Australia at their AGM last week.

The merger, which will become effective on 1 January 2017, will see the establishment of Intech Bank as a division of Bank Australia.

Bank Australia managing director Damien Walsh said the merger reflects the bank’s ambition to achieve greater scale through ongoing strong organic growth and strategic mergers where they represent value to customers.

“This merger is of particular interest as our customers come from all walks of life including science, research, engineering and education all of which closely align to the technology sector,” Mr Walsh said.

According to Intech Credit Union CEO Robert King, the merger will see it leverage the greater scale and capabilities of Bank Australia to support the realisation of its ambition to become the preferred banking partner for people employed across Australia’s technology sector.

“The merger with Bank Australia offers our current members great value and the ability to offer them better technology,” Mr King said.

“At the same time, we have a clear strategy to grow and the merger will help us to build on our success to date in attracting customers employed in the technology sector throughout Australia’s eastern states,” King said.

Intech Credit Union has assets of $330 million and serves some 10,000 customers working in the technology sector. It has a physical branch footprint in Sydney and Melbourne.

Bank Australia has assets of just over $4 billion and serves 127,000 customers across Australia through a network of 25 branches and a national contact centre based in the Latrobe Valley.

The formal merger will be effective 1 January 2017 subject to regulatory approval by APRA.