Regional con job informs Bank of Melbourne strategy

The rationale for the switch to a new, but old, Bank of Melbourne brand in Victoria for Westpac is the view that a more parochial brand is needed to drive organic growth.

There is also opportunity.  The aggregate market share for "regional" bank brands in Victoria is around 13 per cent, according to Westpac estimates. The bank puts the regional market share in other states in excess of 20 per cent, and as high as 25 per cent in some cases.

These estimates include bank brands owned by big banks including St George, Bank of South Australia and BankWest.

The existing St George market share in Victoria is a little less than four per cent,

The strategy thus relies on a degree of confusion or disinterest on the part of prospective customers who want to bank with a local brand but don't know or care about the detail -  that BankSA, say, or Bank of Melbourne, is managed by another bank they've consciously decided not to deal with.