Westpac Totally Explained

Everything about Westpac totally explained

ť This article is about the bank. For the defunct airline, see Western Pacific Airlines. For the rescue helicopter, see Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter. For the stadium, see Westpac Stadium.

Westpac (formally Westpac Banking Corporation), is a multinational Financial services company and the third largest bank in Australia (by market capitalization). Westpac has also been recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as the most sustainable bank in the world for the fifth year running. The bank is one of the Australian 'big four' banks, joining NAB, ANZ, and the Commonwealth Bank as the main providers of financial services to Australians.

Core Business Activities

Westpac's core businesses consist of nine business units (five customer facing), through which it serves around 8.2 million customers. These business areas are—

Consumer Financial Services (CFS)

This includes deposit taking, transaction accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and other lending. Westpac is a major home loan provider and also serves the financial needs of business customers with a turnover of up to $20 million. Investment, superannuation and general and life insurance products are also sold through the branch network. In the past, CFS and BFS (see below) had been operated as a single business unit Business & Consumer Banking (BCB).

Business Financial Services(BFS)

BFS provides end to end banking solutions to small and medium enterprises across Australia.

BT Financial Group

BT Financial Group, Westpac's wealth management division, includes managed investments, life insurance, superannuation and discount broking products in Australia and New Zealand. BT also offers custody and settlement services to institutional customers and fund managers.

Westpac New Zealand

In 1861 the Bank of New South Wales opened seven branches in New Zealand. Some of the old buildings still stand, including one in Oamaru and another in Tokomaru Bay.
Today this unit offers a whole range of consumer and corporate services to clients throughout New Zealand. It is the dominant provider of banking services to small to medium business, corporate and institutional organisations, and is the banker of the New Zealand government (External Link

). Currently Westpac is the second largest bank in New Zealand, after the merger of ANZ and National Bank, with around 1.5 million customers, 3,000 shareholders and 196 branches nationwide.
On September 29, 2006 Westpac was forced to pay NZ$5.1 million by the New Zealand Commerce Commission over hidden foreign transaction fees (most of the fine is reimbursement to affected customers). All other banks operating in New Zealand have either already been fined or are awaiting a court case.

Naming Rights

Westpac Arena in Christchurch;
Westpac St James theatre in Wellington and;
Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

Business & Technology Solutions & Services (BTSS)

BTSS is Westpac's technology and services arm. It incorporates Westpac's internal IT business units, transformation teams, the bank's operations centres and other support services.

Other Business Units

The three remaining business units are Group Finance, People & Performance (Westpac's name for Human Resources), and Group Risk.

ATM Alliance

Westpac is a member of the Global ATM Alliance, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their ATM card or check card at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance with no fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are Barclays (United Kingdom), Bank of America (United States), BNP Paribas (France), China Construction Bank (China), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Grupo Santander (Mexico) and Scotiabank (Canada).

Westpac Migrant Banking

This unit of both the Australian and New Zealand Bank offers banking facilities to those migrating to either New Zealand or Australia. Bank accounts for migrants can be opened before people arrive in the country using their easy account opening process. Credit cards and mortgages can even be approved before arrival. Westpac Migrant Banking does have a representative office in London where accounts can be arranged, although the process allows the process to be done remotely from any country.

Pacific Banking

Westpac now operates in seven south Pacific nations. This unit is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and offers a wide range of financial service, including electronic banking (via online banking, ATMs and EFTPOS), deposit, loan, transaction accounts and international trade facilities to personal and business customers through a vast network of branches. Westpac Fiji is Westpac's Fijian operation. It is one of the largest banks in the country with a 40% market share.

History

Established in Sydney in 1817, the Bank of New South Wales was the first bank in Australia. Edward Smith Hall was the first cashier and secretary(External Link

). During the 19th and early 20th century, the Bank opened branches first throughout Australia and Oceania, at Moreton Bay (Brisbane) in 1850, then in Victoria (1851), New Zealand (1861), South Australia (1877), Western Australia (1883), Fiji (1901), Papua New Guinea (1910) and Tasmania (1910).

1927: BNSW acquired the Western Australian Bank.

1931: BNSW acquired the Australian Bank of Commerce, which had branches in both New South Wales and Queensland.

1942: BNSW suspended operations in Papua New Guinea as the Japanese Army captured many of the towns in which it had branches and agencies, and bombed Port Moresby. It resumed operations in 1946.

1970: BNSW established a branch on Tarawa in Kiribati (ex-Gilbert Islands), which also took over the government savings bank. Also, the company first became listed on 18 July, 1970.

1971: It established a branch in the New Hebrides. The next year HSBC and Commercial Bank of Australia (see below) also established branches.

1974: The Bank of New Zealand (20%), Westpac (20%), Bank of Hawaii (20%), and the Government of Tonga (40%) established Bank of Tonga as a joint venture.

1975: BNSW incorporated its local business in Papua New Guinea as Bank of New South Wales(PNG).

1977: BNSW formed Pacific Commercial Bank in Samoa as a joint venture with Bank of Hawaii, buying into Pacific Savings and Loan Company (est. 1969), in which Bank of Hawaii had had an ownership interest since 1971.

1982: BNSW merged with the Commercial Bank of Australia to form Westpac Banking Corporation. Westpac was framed with the mission to become a significant Western-Pacific bank from which the Westpac portmanteau is derived. As of 2008, this mission hasn't been accomplished.

1984: The original agreement between BNSW and the government in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands expired and Westpac and the government of Kiribati formed Bank of Kiribati as a 51%-49% joint venture. Bank of Kiribati also fulfilled the functions of a reserve or central bank.

1985: Westpac replaced Barclays Bank in the National Bank of Tuvalu (est. 1981) in Tuvalu (ex-Ellice Islands), taking 40% of the shares as well as a 10-year management contract.

1988: Westpac acquired the European Pacific Banking Corporation in the Cook Islands and a HSBC subsidiary, the Solomon Islands Banking Corporation, which HSBC had established as a branch in 1973. Westpac also acquired HSBC's operations in Fiji and the New Hebrides, and established a branch in Niue that's the only bank in that country. (HSBC had established its branch in Fiji only some 18 months earlier).

1990: Bank of New Zealand sold half its shares in Bank of Tonga to Westpac and half to Bank of Hawaii, giving each of them 30%. Westpac bought Banque Indosuez's operations in New Caledonia and Tahiti. (Banque de l'Indochine, which later merged into Banque Indosuez, had established itself in New Caledonia in 1888 and in Papeete, Tahiti in 1905. In both places l'Indochine functioned as the bank of issue until 1966-7.)

1992: Westpac recorded a 1.6 billion dollar loss, which at the time, was the largest loss for an Australian corporation. In this environment, the Bank dismissed staff and raided the superannuation to sustain its viability. In the process Westpac slipped from being Australia's largest to now third largest bank.

1995: Westpac sold its shares in National Bank of Tuvalu to that country's government, which now wholly owns the bank.

1995: Westpac acquired Challenge Bank in Western Australia

1996: Westpac Holdings NZ bought TrustBanks, a chain of regional banks owned by Community Trusts, for NZD1.2 billion to form NZ largest bank, WestpacTrust. The bank had promised to keep the funding to Community Trusts flowing and to keep "Trust" in its name. However, Community Trust funding has slowed to a trickle, and in 2002 the bank launched a major rebranding which included dropping the "Trust" from its name. The merger of Westpac and Trustbank also saw the closure of many branches around New Zealand. In towns and cities where both Westpac and Trustbank existed, the bank merged redundant branches into a single branch; also it closed down many branches in rural areas and outer suburbs.

1997: Westpac acquired Bank of Melbourne in Victoria, paying an estimated price in excess of A$1.4b. Although Westpac retained the rights to the Bank of Melbourne name and logos, as of 2006 the brand has disappeared altogether.

1998: Westpac sold its operations in New Caledonia and Tahiti to Société Générale, which merged them with Société Générale Calédonienne de Banque (est. 1971) and Banque de Polynésie (est. 1973), respectively.

2001: The government of Kiribati sought to reduce Westpac's share in Bank of Kiribati from 51 to 49%, leading Westpac to sell its shares back to the government. Bank of Hawaii sold its interest in Pacific Commercial Bank (42.7%) to Westpac, which held an equal portion. Westpac offered Samoan investors, who held the remaining shares, the same price it had paid Bank of Hawaii. Westpac now owns 93.5% of Westpac Bank Samoa and Samoan companies and individuals own 6.5%. In Tonga, Bank of Hawaii sold its shares in Bank of Tonga to Westpac, giving Westpac 60% ownership of what is now Westpac Bank of Tonga.

2002: Westpac acquired BT Financial Group

2004: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand required Westpac to incorporate its NZ branches network. Westpac sold its branch in Niue to Bank of South Pacific.

2008: Gail Kelly appointed Chief executive officer and Managing director.Further Information

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