Type Public (ASX: WBC)
Founded 1817
Headquarters Sydney, Australia
Key people Gail Kelly(CEO)
Leonard Davis (Chairman)
Industry Banking
Products Personal Banking
Business Banking
Commercial Lending
Personal Lending
Home Mortgage Loans
Share & Equity Management
Revenue $18.1 billion AUD (2004)
Employees 30,000 ref
Slogan Australia's First Bank
Website www.westpac.com.auwww.westpac.co.nz
Westpac
Banking Corporation ASX: WBC NZX:
WBC, usually called Westpac, is
the fourth largest bank in Australia,
after the National Australia Bank,
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
and ANZ and one of the largest
banks in the South Pacific.
The
bank began life as the Bank of
New South Wales in 1817 (making
it the oldest bank in Australia),
and in 1861 in New Zealand, one
month before the Otago gold rush.
After various mergers they became
Westpac in 1982. The name is derived
from the fact its major operations
are in the Western Pacific. Among
Westpac's key people are Sydney-based
CEO David Morgan, chairman Leonard
Davis and executive Mike Pratt.
Core
Business Activities
Westpac's core businesses consist
of five main areas of business,
through which it serves around
8.2 million customers. These five
business areas are:
Business and Consumer Banking
This includes deposit taking,
transaction accounts, credit cards
and other lending. Westpac is
a major home loan provider and
also serves the financial needs
of business customers with a turnover
of up to $20 million. Investment,
superannuation and general and
life insurance products are also
sold through the branch network.
Note: - BCB has been divided into
Business Financial Services (BFS)
and Consumer Financial Services
(CFS).
Business Technology Solutions
and Services (BTSS)
BTSS is Westpac's technology arm.
It incorporates Westpac's internal
IT business units, the bank's
operations centres, and other
support services such as incident
and product systems management.
Wealth Management
This covers the asset accumulation,
investment management and life
insurance operations in Australia
and New Zealand. Wealth Management
designs, manufactures and services
financial products to allow customers
to create, manage and protect
their wealth. It also includes
managed investments, life insurance,
superannuation and discount broking.
There is also custody and settlement
services to institutional customers
and fund managers.
Westpac Institutional Bank
(WIB)
This business offers financial
services to the corporate and
institutional customer base, helping
and advising in the management
of cash, funding, capital and
market risk for enterprises and
institutions in Australia and
New Zealand.
New Zealand Retail
In 1861 seven branches opened
in New Zealand, starting with
the name of the Bank of New South
Wales. Some of the old buildings
still stand, including one in
Oamaru.
Today
this unit offers a whole range
of consumer and corporate services
to clients throughout New Zealand.
It is the dominant provider of
banking services to small to medium
business and is the banker of
the New Zealand government. Currently
they are the largest bank in New
Zealand, with around 30,000 customers,
3,000 shareholders, and 196 branches
nationwide.
On
September 29, 2006 Westpac
was forced to pay NZ$5.1 million
by the New Zealand Commerce Commission
over hidden foreign transaction
fees (most of the fine is reimbursement
to affected customers). All other
banks operating in New Zealand
have either already been fined
or are awaiting a court case.
"Westpac to pay $5.1 million
over credit card fees, Kiwibank
joins list of companies facing
charges", Commerce Commission,
September 29, 2006. Retrieved
on 2007-01-16.
Naming Rights
Westpac Centre in Christchurch,
Westpac St James theatre in Wellington,
Westpac Stadium in Wellington
and,
Westpac Park in Hamilton (naming
rights have now expired).
Westpac Migrant Banking
This unit of both the Australian
and New Zealand Bank offers banking
facilities to those migrating
to either New Zealand or Australia.
Bank accounts for migrants can
be opened before people arrive
in the country using their easy
account opening process. Credit
cards and mortgages can even be
approved before arrival. Westpac
Migrant Banking does have a representative
office in London where acccounts
can be arranged, although the
process allows the process to
be done remotely from any country.
Pacific Banking
Westpac commenced operations in
Fiji in 1901 and Papua New Guinea
in 1910. Westpac now operates
in seven south Pacific nations.
This unit is headquartered in
Sydney, Australia, and offers
a wide range of financial service,
including electronic banking (via
online banking, ATMs and EFTPOS),
deposit, loan, transaction accounts
and international trade facilities
to personal and business customers
through a vast network of branches.
Westpac Fiji
Westpac Fiji is Westpac's Fijian
operation. It is one of the largest
banks in the country with a 40%
market share.
History
In 1817, the Bank of New South
Wales was founded in Sydney as
the first bank in Australia. Edward
Smith Hall was the first cashier
and secretary[2]. Throughout the
19th and early 20th century, the
Bank opened branches throughout
Oceania, at Moreton Bay (Brisbane)
in 1850, then in Victoria (1851),
New Zealand (1861), South Australia
(1877), Western Australia (1883),
Fiji (1901), Papua New Guinea
(1910) and Tasmania (1910).
1927:
BNSW acquired the Western Australian
Bank.
1931: It acquired the Australian
Bank of Commerce, which had branches
in both New South Wales and Queensland.
1942: BNSW suspended operations
in Papua New Guinea as the Japanese
Army captured many of the towns
in which it had branches and agencies,
and bombed Port Moresby. It resumed
operations in 1946.
1970: It established a branch
on Tarawa in Kiribati (ex-Gilbert
Islands), which also took over
the government savings bank.
1971: It established a branch
in the New Hebrides. The next
year HSBC and Commercial Bank
of Australia (see below) also
established branches.
1974: The Bank of New Zealand
(20%), Westpac (20%), Bank of
Hawaii (20%), and the Government
of Tonga (40%) established The
Bank of Tonga as a joint venture.
1975: It incorporated its local
business in Papua New Guinea as
Bank of New South Wales(PNG).
1977: BNSW formed a joint venture
in Samoa with Bank of Hawaii,
Pacific Commercial Bank, by buying
into Pacific Savings and Loan
Company (est. 1969), in which
Bank of Hawaii had had an ownership
interest since 1971.
1982: BNSW merged with Commercial
Bank of Australia to form Westpac
Banking Corporation.
1984: The original agreement between
BNSW and the government in the
Gilbert and Ellice Islands expired
and Westpac and the government
of Kiribati formed Bank of Kiribati
as a 51%-49% joint venture. Bank
of Kiribati also fulfilled the
functions of a reserve or central
bank.
1985: Westpac replaced Barclays
Bank in the National Bank of Tuvalu
(est. 1981) in Tuvalu (ex-Ellice
Islands), taking 40% of the shares
as well as a 10-year management
contract.
1988: Westpac acquired the European
Pacific Banking Corporation in
the Cook Islands and a HSBC subsidiary,
the Solomon Islands Banking Corporation,
which HSBC had established as
a branch in 1973. Westpac also
acquired HSBC's operations in
Fiji and the New Hebrides, and
established a branch in Niue that
is the only bank in that country.
(HSBC had established its branch
in Fiji only some 18 months earlier.
1990: Bank of New Zealand sold
half its shares in Bank of Tonga
to Westpac and half to Bank of
Hawaii, giving each of them 30%.
Westpac bought Banque Indosuez's
operations in New Caledonia and
Tahiti. (Banque de l'Indochine,
which later merged into Banque
Indosuez, had established itself
in New Caledonia in 1888 and in
Papeete, Tahiti in 1905. In both
places Indochine functioned as
the bank of issue until 1966-7.)
1992: Westpac recorded a 1.6 billion
dollar loss, which at the time,
was the largest loss for an Australian
corporation.
1995: Westpac sold its shares
in National Bank of Tuvalu to
the government, which now wholly-owns
the bank.
1995: Westpac merged with Challenge
Bank in Western Australia
1996: Westpac Holdings NZ bought
TrustBanks, a chain of regional
banks owned by Community Trusts,
for NZD1.2 billion to form NZ
largest bank WestpacTrust. The
bank had promised to keep the
funding to Community Trusts flowing
and to keep "Trust"
in its name. However, Community
Trust funding has slowed to a
trickle, and in 2002 the bank
quietly changed its name to Westpac.
The merger of Westpac and Trustbank
also saw the closure of many branches
around New Zealand. In towns and
cities where both Westpac and
Trustbank existed branches were
merged into a single branch, also
many branches in rural areas and
outer suburbs were closed down.
1997: Westpac acquired Bank of
Melbourne in Victoria, paying
an estimated price in excess of
A$1.4b. Although Westpac retained
the rights to the Bank of Melbourne
name and logos, as of 2006 the
brand has disappeared altogether.
1998: Westpac sold its operations
in New Caledonia and Tahiti to
Société Générale,
which merged them with Société
Générale Calédonienne
de Banque (est. 1971) and Banque
de Polynésie (est. 1973),
respectively.
2001: The government of Kiribati
sought to reduce Westpac's share
in Bank of Kiribati from 51 to
49%, leading Westpac to sell its
shares back to the government.
Bank of Hawaii sold its interest
in Pacific Commercial Bank (42.7%)
to Westpac, which held an equal
portion. Westpac offered Samoan
investors, who held the remaining
shares, the same price it had
paid Bank of Hawaii. Westpac now
owns 93.5% of Westpac Bank Samoa
and Samoan companies and individuals
own 6.5%. In Tonga, Bank of Hawaii
sold its shares in Bank of Tonga
to Westpac, giving Westpac 60%
ownership of the bank.
2004: The Reserve Bank of New
Zealand requires Westpac to incorporate
its NZ branches network
