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A former CEO of Rabobank New Zealand has joined the non-major bank as a non-executive director.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited has appointed Daryl Johnson to its board as a non-executive director (NED).
The new NED has more than 40 years’ banking and finance experience in Australia, Asia, and New Zealand and was most recently a NED at Beyond Bank, a position he held for five years until last month, as well as at payments & regulated data services provider Cuscal, among others.
Prior to becoming a NED, Johnson had an extensive executive career in banking, having been the CEO of Rabobank New Zealand, National Australia Bank’s (NAB) CEO of Asia, as well as an executive general manager of NAB Business and general manager of NAB Corporate.
He had also previously been the managing director of business banking at ANZ and has been an advisory committee member to Agrifunder, a specialist provider of working capital funding to the agricultural sector.
Johnson will begin his new role on the board of directors at the end of this month (30 September) and seek election at the annual general meeting on 7 November 2024.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank chair Vicki Carter welcomed Johnson to the board, highlighting his experience in driving growth and innovation.
“Daryl’s extensive banking and finance experience in Australasia and deep understanding of business and agribusiness makes him a valuable addition to the board,” she said.
“His expertise in the areas of strategy development and implementation, customer experience, and financial performance will further support the Bank’s growth agenda.”
Speaking of his appointment, Johnson said: “I’m proud to join Australia’s most trusted bank and contribute to the next phase of its development.
“The strength of Bendigo Bank’s brand, the work completed under its transformation program and its longstanding purpose of feeding into the prosperity of its customers and the community have created an exciting organisation to be part of and contribute to.”
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has seen strong growth in its agribusiness lending arm recently. According to its financial results for the financial year ending 30 June, agribusiness loan balances were up 7.4 per cent ($6.8 billion) in the year.
The non-major bank attributed the gains in agribusiness to opportunities in Queensland and Western Australia and business to its “strategic advantages” in micro and SME business.
It also grew residential balances by 3.1 per cent ($60.4 billion) and business lending by 1.2 per cent ($10.4 billion)
The lender said there had been a 19 per cent increase in residential lending settlements in 2H24, with digital mortgage settlements representing 19.3 per cent of this total.
Total broker residential settlements were also up 15 per cent on the prior half, including settlements through the Bendigo lending platform. More than $365 million in loans were settled through the Bendigo lending platform during its pilot phase (2H24) with brokers, according to the lender.
Brokers were the first channel to have access to the new platform, which is now in full roll-out, so the bank could retire the Adelaide Bank system as it launched the Bendigo Bank brand to the broker channel.
[Related: Bendigo grows loan book as brokers flock to new platform]
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