Australian Unity looks to Big Sky
Australian Unity will seek to capitalise on ongoing consumer discomfort with the profits of the major banks to boost subsidiary Big Sky Building Society's penetration rate in retail banking.
According to David Bryant, the company's group executive of investments and chief investment officer, customers don't feel they can go and talk to their bank in times of difficulty, while growing bank profits were making them uncomfortable.
He said Australian Unity would use that sentiment to boost Big Sky's business.
"For consumers, there is a point at which they don't feel comfortable with that degree of profitability, and we can take advantage of that," he said.
Because the mutual banking industry wasn't simply about profits, it would appeal to a younger customer base that was more focused on values, Bryant said.
However, it was a challenge to communicate the advantages of a credit union over the big four banks, Bryant said.
"Making customers aware of what we are, and what we are not, is a fundamental challenge in the communication space," he said.
Mutual banks needed to make customers understand that they didn't exist for shareholders, he added.
Big Sky chief executive Tony Ryan said there was a need for an alternative to the big banks, but it was difficult breaking through consumers' apathy.
Big Sky would use Australian Unity to develop its customer base throughout the country, Ryan said.
Recommended for you
The central bank has released its decision on the official cash rate following its November monetary policy meeting.
ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of a Melbourne-based managed investment scheme operator over a failure to pay industry levies and meet its statutory audit and financial reporting lodgement obligations.
Melbourne advice firm Hewison Private Wealth has marked four decades of service after making its start in 1985 as a “truly independent advice business” in a largely product-led market.
HLB Mann Judd Perth has announced its acquisition of a WA business advisory firm, growing its presence in the region, along with 10 appointments across the firm’s national network.
