BRW on Credit Unions as the 5th pillar
Wednesday, 20 April 2011 13:48
BRW, one of Australia’s leading business magazines, has recently published an article titled ‘Building the fifth pillar’.
The article looks at how both the government and consumers are hoping the current group of credit unions and building societies can together form a competitive counterbalance to the concentrated power of the big banks.
At the time of writing this member news article the BRW piece was available in the BRW magazine (April14-20 2011), but only available online to BRW website subscribers. We’ve pulled out some of our favourite quotes to give you an idea of what one of the most respected business magazines in Australia is saying about us:
- ‘Fed up with being mistreated by the big four banks because they [Australian customers] have nowhere else to go, they are inundating credit unions and mutuals with loan inquiries.’
- ‘Moreover, inquiries are translating into loan applications, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures. In December, mutuals wrote almost 11 per cent of new loans for owner-occupied homes – nearly double their share of two years ago. ‘
- ‘According to Canstar Cannex, the interest rate on a typical credit union standard variable rate home loan is nearly half a percentage point below that on a big bank loan.’
- ‘The Reserve Bank of Australia’s February statement on monetary policy confirms mutuals are increasing their share of an otherwise stagnant lending market at big banks’ expense. “The increase in approvals has been most significant for credit unions and building societies and to a lesser extent for wholesale lenders and smaller banks,” the statement says. “The major banks have continued to experience a decline in their market share, which is now under three-quarters, around 11 percentage points below its early 2009 peak.”’
The full article can be found in the 14-20 April 2011 edition of BRW magazine or online, but remember you need to be a subscriber to the site to view the article.
