National Australia Bank will hack off part of the customer list of nabCapital and hand responsibility for these customers to the business banking division in Australia.
In a further preview of tomorrow's strategy briefing by NAB the
Herald Sun reported a "merging of activities between the nabCapital and business banking arms", though this is likely to be only partial in nature.
Cedit risk management and operational risk management functions may also be more closely integrated between the Australian business and the group headquarters, including nabCapital.
Staff cuts are also expected. The newspaper, citing NAB sources, reported they will be "large and across the board". Customer-facing positions may be spared in Australia but not in New Zealand or Britain where new business levels are reduced thanks to the severity of the recession in each economy.
More micro brands may also be on the way.
Working under the more generic label of StarBank, NAB has had a team looking at stretching the brand, as well as the customer service model, for almost two years.
NAB already has one such brand in Australia, UBank, an internet-based proposition that, five months after its launch, still does not offer an internet banking option.
This may not matter for now, with deposits gathered by Ubank said to be around the $1 billion mark.
Micro brands have had mixed success in Australian banking. ANZ has expanded the product set of one direct from one to two after several years. Commonwealth Bank opted to retire the HomePath brand after a decade.
Westpac is learning to manage a portfolio of retail brands, having bought Rams Home Loans and also St George, which in turn owns Bank of South Australia.