Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank merge to become Hunter powerhouse

APRA data suggests the two Hunter-based banks will have combined residents' assets worth around $24 billion, while Brisbane-based Great Southern Bank has $21 billion.

It's been a period of solidification for the customer-owned sector, with Heritage Bank and People's Choice Credit Union also merging on Wednesday.

Not to be outdone, this merger would usurp NGM to become Australia's largest mutual, with more than $26 billion in residents' assets.

However, the two Hunter-based entities will retain and operate their retail brands, according to Group CEO Bernadette Inglis.

“This is a call we arrived at after very careful consideration, deciding that both brands’ history and performance scorecard meant they were each too strong an asset to part with," Ms Inglis said.

“The future is bright for customer-owned banking and given our financial strength, we are well-placed to lead the way in taking our way of banking to more Australians."

The merger has been around 18 months in the making, with the brands' respective boards agreeing to merge in August 2021, followed by member approval in November 2022.

The brand now has 1,600 employees and more than 600,000 customers. 

Despite the mergers, the two new institutions pale in comparison to Australia's largest banks; CBA has more than $1 trillion in residents' assets, for example.

According to the Customer-Owned Banking Association (COBA), the mutual banking sector has more than $150 billion in assets and five million customers across 58 institutions. 

Top 10 Customer-Owned Banks

Source: Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, January 2023 ADI Statistics.

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