Login
ISCOVER
Goldfields Money shareholders have supported a motion to change the group's name as part of its move to re-position itself as a digital challenger bank.
At a general meeting held following the release of its 2019 half-year financial results (HY19), 96 per cent of Goldfields Money shareholders voted in support of a brand change to BNK Banking Corporation, subject to regulatory approval.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
The move follows the West Australian-based lender’s merger with mortgage aggregator Finsure late last year.
However, it has been noted that despite forming part of the group, Finsure will continue to operate under its own brand.
Following the general meeting, managing director Simon Lyons said: “The board is delighted that shareholders have overwhelmingly supported the change of name and we believe being able to market ourselves as BNK Bank will assist us in our growth journey.”
The announcement coincides with the release of the merged entities’ inaugural half-year financial results, with Finsure helping to bolster Goldfields’ underlying performance.
The group has reported an underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of $1.3 million, up 225 per cent from $400,000 in HY18.
The improvement was largely driven by strong growth in Goldfields’ off-balance-sheet loan book (via Finsure), which rose by $7.1 billion (27 per cent) to $37.8 billion.
In contrast, the bank’s on-balance-sheet loan book increased by 6.6 per cent, rising by $22 million to $176 million.
Goldfields’ loan writer network also grew, increasing by 15 per cent from 1,370 to 1,581.
Reflecting on the results, Mr Lyons commented: “Following the merger with Finsure and implementation of our digital strategy, we are well positioned to become a challenger bank of scale. We have made banking simpler and easier for customers, and with our continued investment in technology and systems, we can deliver insight-driven products via our large market-leading distribution network.
“We also see opportunities to further improve our operations and offering through key strategic partnerships, which we continue to pursue.
“While we are growing profitably, we will continue to invest in the business in the near term to drive growth while we use our agile nature to take advantage of opportunities as the market changes.”
The group added that it plans to build its deposit base to fund further on-balance sheet lending while also broadening distribution of its banking products through its mortgage broker network, and via new strategic partnerships.
Goldfields is also determined to reposition itself as a digital challenger bank by developing new products through its propriety loan software Loankit and by marketing the lender with its new brand, BNK Bank.
Reflecting on the banking royal commission broker reform proposals, the group said that it is pleased that both major political parties “recognised the need to maintain a strong mortgage broking industry” and welcomed their acknowledgement of the “important distribution capability they provide for smaller banks”.
[Related: Bank-aggregator merger gets thumbs up from shareholders]
