Bendigo and Adelaide names 1st business, agribusiness fusion head

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has said Adam Rowse will be its inaugural chief customer officer business and agribusiness, with his Melbourne-based position expected to commence on Friday (1 July). 

Mr Rowse previously spent more than 14 years with Barclays, serving in roles that included head of business banking and head of physical banking during his London-based tenure.

From 2006 to 2007, Mr Rowse was an executive manager with NAB. 

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank first flagged its intentions to appoint a COO for business and agribusiness in February when it was revealed that the two divisions would be merged into a single entity. 

According to the banking group, the decision to combine the divisions was to “scale up” its services and “invest for the future”. 

“Unifying the divisions will ensure all of our customers continue to have access to specialist knowledge and quality products offering compelling value, while also allowing the bank to streamline operations and deliver greater efficiencies,” the group said at the time. 

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank managing director Marnie Baker commented in February that bringing the businesses together would allow the group to fast-track its “transformation agenda”. 

Ms Baker also noted that the decision would allow the group to achieve its goal of “becoming a bigger, better and stronger bank” for its customer base.

Mr Rowse will be taking over from Richard Fennell, who has been the acting COO since the divisions were combined. 

Speaking of Mr Rowse’s appointment, Ms Baker said the decision was an important step in uniting and growing the two divisions, as well as to better support its customers. 

“We are pleased to appoint some of Adam’s calibre to the role of chief customer officer business and agribusiness,” Ms Baker said. 

“His experience and understanding of the global banking landscape will help us to execute our transformation strategy and continue to grow our business as we become a bigger, better and stronger bank.” 

Earlier this week, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank confirmed that, in a separate streamline move, it had previously integrated the fintech Sandstone Technology’s LendFast platform to improve its loan processing capability. 

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank general manager of third-party banking, Darren Kasehagen, said the decision to utilise the fintech’s loan origination platform included improving the customer and broker experiences.

“It’s simple for us – we are trying to make it as easy as possible for our customers and our brokers to work with us, and this digital transformation is making that job a lot easier,” Mr Kasehagen said. 

[Related: Bendigo and Adelaide confirms partnership with Sandstone]