(27 September 2012 – New Zealand) ANZ National, New Zealand’s biggest bank is expected to scrap the National brand, affecting thousands of staff and hundreds of thousands of customers.ANZ National claims to have nearly half the population on its books and the rebranding is unlikely to cause large job losses immediately among the combined workforce of around 9000.
Insiders expect a gradual reduction in staff over the next couple of years, largely through attrition as surplus branches close.
ANZ has maintained that it will retain the country’s biggest branch network, but some of its more than 310 branches would be merged where they were close together.
ANZ bought the National Bank from Lloyds TSB bank in 2003 for NZ$6.9 billion (A$5.4 billion) in the biggest deal in New Zealand’s corporate history at the time.
Speculation about when the Australian-owned ANZ would kill off National’s prancing horse has been a feature of the industry ever since.