While the provisional result is still undergoing final validation, the merged entity will create one of Australia’s leading customer-owned banks, with more than $20 billion in assets and 600,000 customers.
This would make it bigger than the current largest customer-owned bank, Great Southern Bank, as seen in the table below.
The merger is set to come into effect on 1 March 2023, pending final regulatory approvals.
Both brands will be retained under the merged entity Newcastle Greater Mutual Group Ltd and there will be no change to customer bank accounts or banking details once the merge has been complete.
The result has been more than a year in the making, with the idea first proposed in August 2021.
Each bank's member bases reached in excess of the 75% approval rate required for the merger.
The merged organisation, Newcastle Greater Mutual Group Ltd, will be led by a board comprising four directors from each of the current Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent boards.
Wayne Russell, Chair of Greater Bank, will assume the role of Chair and Bernadette Inglis, CEO of Newcastle Permanent, will be Group CEO.
Mr Russell said both leadership teams were pleased with the outcome.
“Creating a financial powerhouse based here in the Hunter is an incredibly exciting prospect and I speak for both organisations when I say how proud we are that our members share our vision and voted a strong ‘yes’,” he said.
“Bringing together our two brands under the one merged entity better positions us to compete with the major banks and deliver high value, competitive banking for our customers.
“Final validation of the votes is underway but we’re confident the provisional outcome will be confirmed, and the merger will proceed.”
Chair of Newcastle Permanent Jeff Eather echoed a similar sentiment.
“Both Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank have long championed customer-owned banking, and merging will enable us to secure its future here in regional NSW,” Mr Eather said.
“The new organisation will have size and scale that we can leverage to grow our business over the longer term.”
Largest customer-owned banks
| Bank | Assets ($ billion) |
| Great Southern Bank (formerly CUA) | 20.23 |
| Heritage Bank | 14.46 |
| Newcastle Permanent | 14.13 |
| People's Choice | 12.17 |
| Bank Australia | 11.33 |
| Teachers Mutual | 10.44 |
| Greater Bank | 10.15 |
| Beyond Bank | 9.92 |
| P&N Bank | 8.86 |
| IMB | 8.77 |
Source: APRA July 2022 ADI Statistics
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