Teachers Mutual Bank is celebrating as they passed $10bn in assets, a new high for the bank. The customer-owned bank, which was founded in 1966, and initially had just $644 in deposits from fewer than 30 members.
Now, after a recent merger with Pulse Credit Union, they can boast more than 277,000 members in Australia, with a $8m in loans outstanding.
Chief financial officer Glenn Sergeant said that the numbers reflected the general growth in the mutual sector that has helped Teachers along in 2021, as well as the values that keep customers coming back.
“According to APRA’s quarterly ADI performance statistics, total assets for the mutual sector grew by about 8.5% from June 2020 to June 2021,” he said.
“This indicates that the majority of mutuals have been able to successfully weather the volatile economic conditions over COVID-19. In reaching this $10 billion milestone in our assets, we are firming up our position as the fourth largest mutual bank in Australia.”
“While a lot has changed since we started as a credit union in 1966, our values have largely remained the same. We exist for our members. Our members are also our owners, resulting in a sharpened focus on them, leading to better member value and service.”
“In our 55th year, we have defined our purpose as banking for good, for those who do good. This does not stray far from the origins of Teachers Mutual.”
“We are very proud of what we have achieved in the past year, reaching $10 billion in assets, as well as $8 billion in lending and $8 billion in deposits. For us, these results are an unexpected side effect of the pandemic.”
“Throughout lockdowns, our members went into savings mode, as they were unable to travel or shop in the ways they previously used to.”
“Given the majority of our members work in the essential industries of education, emergency services and healthcare, they also sought to enter the property market and take advantage of low interest rates. Looking across the sector, we had the largest asset growth (20%) in FY2020-2021.”
