The small bank sector will appear before a public hearing for the federal government’s ongoing review of Australia’s four major banks and other financial institutions on Thursday.
Representatives from the Australian Banking Association, Bank of Queensland, Beyond Bank, HSBC Australia, ING Australia, Teachers Mutual Bank Ltd, Unity Bank, Volt and Judo Bank will appear before the house economics committee on July 1.
The last time the committee heard from smaller bank sector representatives was in November 2020.
MP and committee chair Tim Wilson said that scrutiny of Australia’s banking system included a review of customer-owned and foreign banks, and to the same standard that the big four were often held to account.
“Smaller banks play an important role in Australia’s financial ecosystem, and they also have responsibilities to their customers to uphold,” Wilson said.
Commenting on so-called neo banks, such as Volt and Judo Bank which will appear before the committee for the first time, Wilson said that they added important competition to the local sector. He also prefaced that neobanks would face many challenges and had ‘a long way to go’, using the acquisition of 86:400 and the closure of Xinja as examples.
“We are looking forward to hearing from Volt and Judo Bank on their experience and role in the future of Australia’s banking sector,” Wilson added.
