Briefs: Infrastructure Hub head appointed, Duffy arrives at Clydesdale, BOQ closes North Ward branch

Banking Day staff
  • Woolworths has been forced to cancel more than A$1 million of gift cards following a customer breach, according to the Herald Sun. The big retailer had mistakenly emailed the redeemable codes of 8000 cards to customers who had purchased them through the discount website Groupon last week. The email included a spreadsheet that disclosed customer names and email addresses, as well as a link to vouchers.
  • Christopher Heathcote, an executive with Macquarie group, has been appointed chief executive of the Global Infrastructure Hub in Sydney. The Hub, chaired by Secretary to the Treasury John Fraser, is an initiative of last year's G20 meeting in Brisbane. A British citizen, Heathcote was a divisional director for Macquarie infrastructure. His experience includes assistant general manager for the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, global head of infrastructure finance at WestLB Ag and global head of project finance at Lloyds Banking Group.
  • David Duffy is finally at work at Clydesdale Bank, more than five months after National Australia Bank said it hired him as its United Kingdom chief executive. Duffy, 53, joins NAB from Allied Irish Banks, where he had been CEO since 2011. Until recently he was President of the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland.
  • Bank of Queensland confirmed that its North Ward branch in Townsville - co-owned by Declan Carnes and his partner, Matthew Buchanan - will be closed down next month, the Courier Mail reports. North Ward earned notoriety because it was responsible for more than 80 per cent of the loans BOQ approved for customers caught up in the 2009 Storm Financial collapse.
  • ING Direct will unveil actress Isla Fisher as its celebrity ambassador, according to The Australian. Fisher will be on social media inviting ING Direct customers to share their experiences with their Orange Everyday transaction account. The campaign will move to television later this month.