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The CBA-owned lender has confirmed it will no longer offer personal loan products.
Bankwest has confirmed its personal lending exit amid an ongoing evolution of the business to a fully digital bank.
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In a statement provided to The Adviser on Monday, the CBA-owned lender said it stopped accepting new personal loan applications from 11 November 2024.
A Bankwest spokesperson said the exit reflected the lender’s ongoing digital banking strategy and intent to “focus and invest in what is most important to our customers”.
The spokesperson said: “Bankwest aspires to be Australia’s favourite digital bank, with an emphasis on delivering simple, value-driven services and experiences, and we continue to review our offerings to accelerate investment in the digital services our customers prefer.
“We have made the decision to no longer offer personal loan products and stopped accepting new applications from 11 November 2024, with fewer than 2.5 per cent of our home loan customers also holding a Bankwest personal loan.”
Existing Bankwest customers holding a personal loan will be unaffected by the change and able to continue to view their loan information and manage their accounts via the Bankwest app or online banking.
“This decision is in line with digital bank strategy, and we will continue to simplify our range of products and services to focus on and invest in what is most important to our customers, across home loans, credit cards, savings and deposit products,” the spokesperson said.
Ongoing evolution
The decision comes during a period of change for the lender, which flagged its intention to become a fully digital bank in March.
At the time, Ian Rakhit, Bankwest’s general manager, third party, said the bank would be prioritising investment in the broker channel.
When the bank made the announcement, the broker channel reportedly originated 90 per cent of its home loans and 97 per cent of transactions by Bankwest customers were serviced digitally.
“Brokers are so important to Bankwest and the decision to pivot the business to free up increased investment to enhance its broker offering is a reflection of that importance,” Rakhit said.
“We’ve been consistently working with brokers to understand their needs and pain points and deliver the tools, services and policy improvements that make their lives as simple and easy as possible, and I look forward to enhancing that offering.
“We know that brokers are increasingly wanting to know what the bank can offer in terms of price, or policy, or service – and have that information at their fingertips. They don’t want to sit in queues waiting for calls to be answered. They want to be in charge of the information.
“That’s what we’ve done in the past and what we’ll continue to do.”
[Related: Bankwest announces major transformation, focus on brokers]
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