Type Subsidiary of Westpac Number of locations 107 | Headquarters Melbourne, Australia Area served Victoria, Australia | |
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Industry Banking, Financial Services Founded Relaunched: 25 July 2011 | ||
The Bank of Melbourne is a financial institution operating in Victoria, Australia. A subsidiary of the Westpac Group, it was re-established as a separate entity, and re-commenced operations on 25 July 2011.
The "new" Bank of Melbourne initially rebadged the Victorian business of St.George Bank, another wholly owned subsidiary of Westpac, as part of a major local branding strategy. The customer-facing activities of the business operate independently of the Westpac Group. Westpac has owned the Bank of Melbourne, and the rights to the brand, since its acquisition of the bank in 1997.
History
The RESI Statewide Building Society was granted a banking licence and established the Bank of Melbourne in July 1989, listing it on the Australian Stock Exchange on 13 July 1989. In 1996, the bank acquired the Victorian business of Challenge Bank from Westpac.
On 3 April 1997, Westpac made a $1.43 billion bid to acquire the Bank of Melbourne; on 29 September 1997, holders of 96% of the ordinary shares of the Bank of Melbourne voted to approve the proposal. Conditions of approval for the takeover required Westpac to continue operating the entity as the Bank of Melbourne for three years.
The entity traded under that brand name until January 2004, at which point the brand name was replaced with Westpac.
In 2008, Westpac merged with the St.George Bank.
In 2011, Westpac relaunched a redesigned Bank of Melbourne brand, trading with the infrastructure and employees of St.George Bank in Victoria. Bank of Melbourne's logo is a navy blue shield. The shapes reflect the architecture of Melbourne and navy blue is the colour of the state of Victoria. The logo was created by Ogilvy Australia and Designworks.
The bank has expanded its network of branches within the state of Victoria, and has plans to expand the network to 100 branches within its first five years.