• Westpac Banking Corporation
• Website: www.westpac.com.au

Industry:

Commercial Banks

Fiscal Year-End:

Sep 10

WBC is engaged in the financial services industry, providing a range of consumer banking, business banking, institutional banking, insurance and funds management services, mainly within Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. WBC floated BT Investment Management (BTT) in December 2007, selling 40% of the business to WBC shareholders (23.5%), institutions (8.7%) and employees (7.8%). WBC merged with SGB on 1 December 2008.

WBC was founded in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales and in 1982 merged with the Victoria-based Commercial Bank of Australia to become Westpac Banking Corporation. During the 1990s, WBC expanded through a number of regional bank takeovers, including Challenge Bank in Western Australia in 1995, Trust Bank New Zealand in 1996 and Bank of Melbourne in Victoria in 1997. In 2002, WBC made a number of funds management acquisitions with a view to building a significant presence in wealth management.

WBC is one of the four major Australian banks with a full-service banking and finance business. Geographically, its main areas of operation are Australia and New Zealand, with a small presence in the Pacific Islands. The bank provides a range of banking and finance products and services and, following a number of acquisitions in 2002, has an attractive wealth management business.

WBC attempts to differentiate itself from its major bank peers by providing superior customer service. This is central to its organic growth strategy. Evidence suggests that WBC has been successful in this regard, with Roy Morgan Research customer satisfaction data showing WBC rating above the major bank peer average. WBC floated BT Investment Management (BTT) in December 2007, selling 40% of the business to WBC shareholders, institutions and employees.

Major customers include individual retail clients, small-to-medium businesses, major corporate clients and government. Following its acquisition of a number of regional banks through the 1990s, WBC has a large retail customer base. Competitors include other major banks (CBA, NAB and ANZ), regional banks and, in lending, mortgage brokers and originators. It also competes against the stand-alone wealth managers such as AMP, AXA and Perpetual.