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The non-major lender has revealed that it will welcome a new CEO on 26 March 2025.
Customer-owned lender Beyond Bank has appointed David Marshall – currently the CEO of banking technology provider Ultradata – as its new CEO.
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Marshall will take on the CEO position from interim CEO, Wayne Matters, on 26 March 2025.
Matters – who was deputy CEO – stepped into the position following the departure of Jake Bromwich in October 2024, who was less than a year into the role. Bromwich, previously the CEO of RAMS Home Loans (now mothballed amid ongoing regulatory investigations and class actions) had himself assumed the CEO role from Robert Keogh, who retired after serving 44 years with the organisation.
The incoming CEO has more than 35 years of experience in Australia’s banking sector, having previously been CEO of Defence Bank and Hume Bank and, prior to that, holding senior executive positions at both Commonwealth Bank and Westpac.
Currently based in Melbourne, Marshall will relocate to Adelaide, where he will oversee the bank’s national metropolitan and regional network.
Sam Andersen, chair of Beyond Bank, said: “David’s deep understanding of customer-owned banking and his extensive experience in the fast-paced world of technology made him a natural choice to lead our bank as we continue to expand our commitment to deliver meaningful financial wellbeing to families and communities across Australia.
“We welcome him and look forward to his stewardship at the helm of one of Australia’s most trusted customer-owned banks.”
The new CEO said: “I am thrilled to join Beyond Bank as I have long admired its strong community credentials and the impact it has in those communities and the people who are part of those communities.
“As a full-service bank with a growing national presence, Beyond Bank is well placed to fill the gap being left by the major Banks, and I am relishing the opportunity to work with the team to maintain the strong momentum we have in powering those communities and building capabilities to ensure Beyond Bank provides best relationship bank service to its customers.”
Beyond Bank has also announced that Cindy Batchelor has been appointed to the bank’s board, commencing 1 February.
“We are extremely pleased to have Cindy join our board,” Andersen said.
“Her skills and experience will add to the diversity and depth of our existing board composition and ensure Beyond Bank’s board remains well-equipped to govern a financial services business of the size and complexity of our bank.”
Batchelor has extensive experience in business banking, community engagement, thought leadership, and strategic risk management capability.
She is also the current chair of the board of Auto and General Insurance Company and the Victorian chapter chair of Chief Executive Women.
Beyond Bank transformation
Like many mutual lenders, Beyond Bank has been going through a period of transformation.
While the bank had been in merger talks with P&N last year, these plans were laid aside last year following due diligence. First announced in June 2024, the merger would have brought together the two customer-owned banks to create a much larger lender (with a combined book of around $20 billion). If the merger had been successful, Bromwich would have become the inaugural CEO.
However, P&N revealed in September that its due diligence process on the potential merger with Beyond Bank had concluded and the board “determined that progressing the merger would not be in the best interests of its members”.
The reason was not disclosed.
The bank also absorbed First Choice Credit Union – a regional NSW credit union – into the Beyond Bank brand at the beginning of 2024 and welcomed members and staff from Geelong-based AWA Alliance Bank members to its brand at the end of September.
Speaking to The Adviser at its mutual bank roundtable last year, Beyond Bank’s head of third-party, Darren McLeod, said that the bank was looking at investing heavily in technology.
“Technology is an area we’ve had to spend a lot of time and effort on – loan processing and turnaround times in particular. Having recently implemented a new origination platform, even when we see a spike in applications, we can maintain a pretty consistent and competitive service level. We have a really good partnership with FMS for FastRefi and can do an external refinance within days now, so these key partnerships have been really important,” he said.
“We’re just about to launch a new broker website and calculator and we’ve partnered with Elula to assist us with retention and identifying which customers might be at risk of refinancing away.
“It’s taking all the stress points out of all the transactions to make it a quicker time to a yes and a better, easier experience for the broker and the customer.”
Other areas of focus for the mutual bank include the investment lending space (particularly when it comes to servicing capability with negative gearing), McLeod said.
[Related: Mutual merger will not proceed]
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