Heritage Bank and People’s Choice Credit Union members have voted in favour of the proposed merger of the two mutuals.
While the vote count remains provisional, the two organisations said they received the support of 75 per cent of voting members necessary to approve the merger.
The new organisation will have 720,000 members, 1900 employees, 95 branches and more than A$23 billion of assets, making it the biggest mutual bank in Australia.
At June 30, Great Southern Bank had assets of $21.3 billion, and when Newcastle Permanent Building Society and Greater Bank come together the merged entity will have around $20 billion of assets.
The Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank merger was approved by members earlier this month.
Heritage Bank chief executive Peter Lock will be the chief executive of the new organisation, with People’s Choice CEO Steve Laidlaw to become deputy CEO. Lock will retire 18 months after the establishment of the merged organisation, when Laidlaw will be appointed CEO.
The board of the merged organisation will be made up of equal numbers of Heritage and People’s Choice directors.
The new organisation will continue to operate under the existing Heritage and People’s Choice brands for an interim period. It will then adopt a new name and brand.
The parties have committed to no branch closures and no redundancies below executive level. Dual head offices will be maintained in Adelaide and Toowoomba.
Their goal is to complete the merger by March next year.
In a message to staff yesterday, Lock and Laidlaw said: “The merger will enable us to deliver more for our members through enhanced products, services, digital capabilities and competitive pricing.
“It will provide you with broader career opportunities and will enable us to do more to support our communities and the environment.”