BANK OF THE YEAR SUNCORP

Suncorp has almost had a lock on this award for the past few years. This should come as no surprise for those who have looked into its heritage, who it serves, what drives it and what it is striving to create.

It is the ninth biggest bank and, combined with its insurance and wealth management divisions, it has almost $100 billion in assets, making it one of Australia’s largest and most comprehensive financial institutions. One of the things that makes Suncorp different is that by originating and being based in Queensland, it has a rare mix of being both big and small, metro and rural, consumer focused yet not neglecting its business customers.

Being Queensland-based gives it other perspectives. It lives the natural disasters with its customers side by side because it’s facing them, too. There’s hardly a better way to demonstrate how this has impacted Suncorp than to look at its Build it Back Better program, which gives eligible customers lodging a claim the ability to improve their home’s resilience to natural hazards.

But as an ASX top 50 company with 13,000 employees, it can’t operate like a mutual, member-owned bank. But that’s still in its DNA, and it has been reinforced by its merger with smaller institutions and mutuals, many regionally based, over the years.

Almost 60% of Suncorp’s business is in insurance, with 40% in banking. It has extensive operations in New Zealand. About 80% of its lending goes to housing, with businesses and agriculture also accounting for a large part of its business. This mix puts it front and centre in the community.

With customers like this, it’s easy to appreciate why Suncorp is so focused on environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) principles, in particular natural disaster resilience, as well as accessibility and affordability, climate change responses, being a purposeful and responsible business and being available to vulnerable customers.

As important as these factors are, Suncorp’s customers also need their bank to offer competitive products. Its basic home loans are consistently in the top 20% for value and variable rate loans are in the top 30%. In credit cards, it competes aggressively with the other major banks, as it does in term deposits, especially for short-term rates. In second place this year is ANZ, Australia’s fourth largest bank, with Macquarie Bank, our fifth largest, nabbing the third spot.

Despite heavy competition in the personal lending space as a result of low interest rates and the rise of non-bank and digital players, Bank of Melbourne has demonstrated that traditional banks are still a highly viable option for borrowers looking for a competitive deal on a personal loan.

Bank of Melbourne, which is part of the Westpac Group, stood out among major banks and other lenders, thanks to its range of competitively priced secured and unsecured personal loans.

That’s no mean feat either, because the Personal Lender of the Year award is based on a quantitative analysis that takes into account the interest rates and fees of eligible car loans, debt consolidation loans and three- and fiveyear fixed-rate unsecured personal loans from a range of lenders.

“Personal lending helps so many customers across the country purchase everything from a new or used car through to funding a project at home or a holiday,” says Steve Rubenstein, managing director of consumer finance at Westpac Group.

“Customers’ needs are diverse, and as a result our range of products is tailored to suit what our customers want. It really is fantastic to be recognised as the Personal Lender of the Year, and we look forward to working with our customers again into 2023 and beyond.”

Bank of Melbourne offers personalised rates across its options, including the secured personal loan, which currently features fixed rates from 4.99%pa to 12.99%pa for amounts between $3000 and $80,000, and the unsecured personal loan, where fixed rates range from 6.89%pa to 18.90%pa on amounts from $2000 and $50,000.

Rubenstein says the bank’s ability to offer tailored interest rates means borrowers with particularly strong credit history can be rewarded with sharper rates and, as a result, lower repayments.

“We recognise customers are always looking for products that best suit their specific needs, which is why we have personalised pricing at Bank of Melbourne, which keeps our rates competitive – this is great for borrowers.”

In second place is NAB, which offers both variable and fixed-rate options with its unsecured personal loan. Five-year fixed interest rates currently range from 6.99%pa to 18.99%pa depending on the borrowers’ credit history, and loan amounts between $5000 and $55,000 are available.

ANZ rounds out the top three. It offers unsecured personal loans with borrowing options from $5000 to $50,000 and both fixed and variable interest rates, which currently start from 8.99%pa.