Bank merger receives mixed reviews
Gail Kelly
New research has revealed Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly has a way to go in convincing both banks’ customers and the general public that the benefits of the proposed St George merger reach beyond her company’s shareholders.
The CoreData survey of 1,122 individuals, 422 of which were either St George or Westpac customers, showed that two in five Australians and 40.8 per cent of existing St George and Westpac customers believe there will be no positive outcomes from the merger.
The independent research, which was conducted on Monday, also revealed that 7 in 10 respondents expect job losses to occur and more than 60 per cent expect bank branch closures as a result of the merger.
CoreData head of market intelligence Craig Phillips added that only 11.9 per cent of the banks’ customers believed they would get better quality service if the two entities merged.
“St George has long positioned itself as a ‘customer-centric’ bank, yet all Australian banks are public companies with the first obligation being to shareholders,” he said.
“However, when respondents were asked whether each bank was customer or profit focused, interestingly Westpac was deemed much more profit driven than St George, and this was reflected among customers and non-customers of both banks.”
Recommended for you
Shadow financial services minister, Luke Howarth, has stressed the Coalition’s commitment to reforming the CSLR, adding that he ultimately wants to “get rid of it”.
With just over three weeks until the federal election, the FAAA has put a reduction in red tape and further support for new entrants on its priority list for an incoming government.
The corporate regulator has issued infringement notices to three AFSLs whose financial advisers provided personal advice to a retail client while unregistered.
Rather than taking a controlling approach, the latest generation of overseas private equity deals is helping advice firms to achieve their growth ambitions, three commentators have said.
