Heritage Bank is a home-grown Darling Downs success story
THE story of Heritage Bank is one that should be a source of pride for everyone in the Toowoomba region.
Heritage Bank has grown from simple beginnings in Toowoomba to become a national player in the home loan market and Australia’s largest customer-owned bank.
The Heritage Bank story starts in 1875 with the formation of the Toowoomba Permanent Building Society — exactly 100 years after the world’s first building society was established in Birmingham, England in 1775.
Toowoomba was an ideal location for the new venture with a growing population, a rich agricultural catchment and plenty of housing blocks ready for development.
The prosperity of our region was such that another mutual financial institution — the Darling Downs Permanent Building Society — was established in Toowoomba in 1897.
In subsequent years both organisations operated side by side and spread beyond Toowoomba to service surrounding towns and regions.
Further years of prosperity followed until the decision to combine forces by merging the two societies to become Heritage Building Society in October 1981.
The company then moved into the newly built Heritage Plaza building in Toowoomba’s CBD in 1982 — the city’s first high-rise office building.
The creation of Heritage Building Society launched a period of strong growth for the organisation.
Not only did Heritage expand the range of financial products and services it offered customers, it also expanded its geographic footprint across southern Queensland.
In December 2011, Heritage took the step of changing its name from Heritage Building Society to Heritage Bank, a move that better reflected the role it plays for customers and the range of products and services it offers.
In early 2012, Heritage expanded its network of mortgage brokers nationwide to offer loans to customers in every state and territory in Australia.
As a result Heritage has become a national player in Australia’s home loan market.
In 2017 Heritage is now Australia’s largest customer-owned bank, with 61 branches in southern Queensland stretching from Bundaberg in the north to Stanthorpe in the south, west to Dalby and east to the Brisbane/Sunshine Coast/Gold Coast corridor.
Heritage is also leading the way in Australia in developing innovative uses for pre-paid technologies, in partnership with companies such as Australia Post, Qantas and Optus.
With more than $9 billion in assets, Heritage now stands proudly as one of the country’s strongest, oldest and best run financial institutions.
Best of all, Heritage remains headquartered in Toowoomba and continues to have the best interests of this region at its core.
Having roots so deep in this community is why Heritage throws its sponsorship support behind many of the key events and activities that make Toowoomba the place that is treasured by so many families.
Heritage is a major sponsor of events including the Empire Theatre’s annual major musical production, the Toowoomba Royal Show, the Carnival of Flowers, the Toowoomba Business Excellence Awards, Metro Care’s Loads of Love Appeal and the Toowoomba Camellia Show and Garden Expo.
Heritage’s annual Charity Golf Day has so far raised more than $660,000 in its 19-year history, all donated back to worthy local charities and organisations.
That’s hundreds of local events and activities that have benefited from a helping hand from Heritage.
Heritage Bank is proud to be a business icon of Toowoomba, serving the region since 1875 and maintaining that same ‘people first’ philosophy that has always focussed on delivering the best value possible to the community.