Bank of Melbourne gears up for big opening
(18 July 2011 – Australia) St George banks will disappear from Victoria next week, replaced by the revived Bank of Melbourne (BoM), the bank plans to hit the ground running with an aggressive pricing strategy.
The Westpac subsidiary could offer more than 1 percent off home loan rates to customers who bring across other accounts.
BoM chief executive Scott Tanner said the bank plans to discount home loans if customers switch a bundle of products from other banks.
That could wipe more than 1 percent from BoM's standard variable home loan for some customers, Mr Tanner said.
He said the bank would be a competitor to its parent, Westpac, which bought St George in 2008.
'We're hungry for business,' Mr Tanner said yesterday at a preview of one of the bank's new branches. 'We're going to be very competitive on all fronts.'
BoM is Westpac's $100 million-plus attempt to re-create a regional banking brand in Victoria, where regional banks only have a 13 percent market share, compared with at least 22 percent in other states.
From July 25, there will be 41 BoM branches, with plans for another 85 in the next four years. Westpac, which killed the Bank of Melbourne brand in 2004, is spending about $90m on the rebranding and branches to open next week, and will spend about $750,000 on each of the 85 new branches.
BoM chief executive Scott Tanner said the bank plans to discount home loans if customers switch a bundle of products from other banks.
That could wipe more than 1 percent from BoM's standard variable home loan for some customers, Mr Tanner said.
He said the bank would be a competitor to its parent, Westpac, which bought St George in 2008.
'We're hungry for business,' Mr Tanner said yesterday at a preview of one of the bank's new branches. 'We're going to be very competitive on all fronts.'
BoM is Westpac's $100 million-plus attempt to re-create a regional banking brand in Victoria, where regional banks only have a 13 percent market share, compared with at least 22 percent in other states.
From July 25, there will be 41 BoM branches, with plans for another 85 in the next four years. Westpac, which killed the Bank of Melbourne brand in 2004, is spending about $90m on the rebranding and branches to open next week, and will spend about $750,000 on each of the 85 new branches.
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