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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
Australia's mutual sector is proving to be a force to be reckoned with, as official figures show the sector is outpacing the major banks in home lending and household deposits.
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APRA's quarterly statistics on credit union and building society performance show home loan balances annual growth of 10.2 per cent compared to the major banks' 8.3 per cent; household deposits annual growth of 8.2 per cent compared to the major banks' 6.5 per cent; and total assets annual growth of 8.4 per cent compared to the major banks' 5.2 per cent.
"Importantly, these figures reflect real underlying growth because we have removed the impact of reporting changes which show even higher growth rates," Abacus head of public affairs Mark Degotardi said.
"This is good news for consumers, showing that Australian banking's "fifth pillar‟ – credit unions and building societies – are actively providing much-needed competition to the major banks.
"Competitive pricing and a higher profile are delivering growth for the mutual banking sector. Mutuals have only one priority – their members. This means they deliver great value to those members through better products and services. And currently they're delivering to more than 4.5 million members across Australia."
