One year on, Bank of Melbourne still in the race
(26 July 2012 – Australia) A year on from Westpac's high-stakes launch of Bank of Melbourne (BoM), chief executive Scott Tanner said the bank has come up against a tougher market than expected.
''It's certainly a different environment than we anticipated that we'd be operating in from when we first started out,'' Tanner said.
''It was pretty clear that we needed to adjust the settings for the new environment.''
Tanner is still committed to building a 100-strong branch network within the first five years.
''We're happy with how things have turned out over the last 12 months. I might say better than expected - but the expectations were pretty high - so I'm happy to be meeting those expectations.''
The bank, which he also labels as a ''disruptive competitor'', has to back its brand with top service and technology.
BoM remains Westpac's high-stakes bet that it can grow its market share using a range of brands compared with using just its flagship Westpac brand.
Dubbed by Westpac executives as a multi-branding strategy, this sees the lender operate a range of retail franchises in different markets such as Bank SA in South Australia and the St George brand in New South Wales and other parts of the country.
Supporters of the multi-brand strategy point out that BoM has notched up a substantially faster rate of growth than had the business continued to operate under its previous St George banner in Victoria.
This is particularly noticeable in much sought-after deposits that are growing at more than three times the broader market.
Bank of Melbourne's customer numbers are growing at nearly 14 per cent, translating to 50,000 additional accounts over the past year.
''It was pretty clear that we needed to adjust the settings for the new environment.''
Tanner is still committed to building a 100-strong branch network within the first five years.
''We're happy with how things have turned out over the last 12 months. I might say better than expected - but the expectations were pretty high - so I'm happy to be meeting those expectations.''
The bank, which he also labels as a ''disruptive competitor'', has to back its brand with top service and technology.
BoM remains Westpac's high-stakes bet that it can grow its market share using a range of brands compared with using just its flagship Westpac brand.
Dubbed by Westpac executives as a multi-branding strategy, this sees the lender operate a range of retail franchises in different markets such as Bank SA in South Australia and the St George brand in New South Wales and other parts of the country.
Supporters of the multi-brand strategy point out that BoM has notched up a substantially faster rate of growth than had the business continued to operate under its previous St George banner in Victoria.
This is particularly noticeable in much sought-after deposits that are growing at more than three times the broader market.
Bank of Melbourne's customer numbers are growing at nearly 14 per cent, translating to 50,000 additional accounts over the past year.