- State Minister for Industry and Trade Theo Theophanous officially opens flagship bankwest retail store announcing 700 new jobs for Victoria.
- BankWest is committed to Victoria and our retail expansion complements our already strong business banking presence within the state.
- In the latest Roy Morgan research conducted into banking and attitudes showed an 81 per cent customer satisfaction rating for Victorians who are already bankwest customers.
- Research commissioned by bankwest shows that 70 per cent of Victorians believe that Australians are complacent about banks.
- The research also shows that half of Victorians would switch banks because of poor service, and more than one in four would switch for greater convenience.
BankWest is offering Victorians a fresh alternative, providing convenience, friendly service and market-leading products.
Bankwest today officially unveiled the first of more than 50 new-look retail stores to open across Victoria over the next four years, giving Victorians a fresh alternative to the Big Four.
The new stores, four of which have already opened their doors in Bourke St. Mall, Box Hill, Cheltenham and Plenty Valley, with Richmond to come next week, complement an already strong business banking presence in Victoria and will create 700 new jobs for the state.
The announcement, which was held at the flagship Bourke St Mall store, is a crucial part of bankwest's east coast expansion strategy, and underpins the company's aim of bringing a new, fresh and innovative style of banking to customers in the eastern states.
State Minister for Industry and Trade Theo Theophanous officially opened the retail store and welcomed bankwest's investment in Victoria.
The new bankwest stores break the traditional banking mould, ditching unfriendly teller barriers, frustrating customer queues and bland design in favour of comfortable and inviting open-plan spaces that feel more like a café than your local bank.
It is the first bank to offer full telling services seven days a week in the east, and all new Victorian stores will offer extended trading hours depending upon their location.
bankwest Chief Executive of Retail Ian Corfield said the new bankwest stores were redefining how customers viewed banking.
"Victorians are looking for a change and our new bankwest stores make banking easier for our customers," he said. "How a bank looks and feels will change fairly radically over the next five years and we are showing this by blurring the line between banking and retailing."
"Today's announcement highlights what bankwest is all about - giving Victorians better access to better deals and a fresh alternative to the Big Four banks."
The new concept bankwest stores, which have all been open for a short time are already performing well ahead of expectations.
"We are excited to be able to bring these stores to Victoria," Mr Corfield said. "Until now, banking has been seen by most Australians as a tedious chore to be completed as quickly as possible. bankwest is changing all that and making banking a convenient and enjoyable experience."
Today's Victorian announcement is also good news for job-hunters, with 700 newly created jobs up for grabs over the next four years.
"Banking experience is not necessarily required as these roles need to be filled by fresh, energetic and passionate Victorians who may have gained experience in other fields such as sales, retail or customer service to join our team," Mr Corfield said.
"We are also looking for personal finance advisors who are interested in working in our retail stores."
The retail expansion complements bankwest's already strong presence in the business banking arena, having been in Victoria for over 15 years and in 2006 moving our business banking headquarter operations to Melbourne.
Staff numbers have grown significantly with 100 in 2005, to over 250 at present, servicing bankwest Business customers in Victoria.
There are now seven Business Banking Centres in Victoria - Melbourne CBD (the only one which existed in 2005 and is now twice the size), Laverton North, Ringwood, St Kilda Road, Waverley, Dandenong and Thomastown.
We have also opened Business Centres in Regional Victoria including Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton, Mildura, Traralgon and Warrnambool, with more to come.
