Community First Bank and Illawarra Credit Union are planning to merge, the boards of both ADIs informed their members yesterday.
The merged entity will have almost 80,000 members and customers, and combined assets of approximately $2.5 billion.
Anthony Perkiss, CEO of Illawarra Credit Union, will be CEO of the new entity when up and running next year, with industry veteran John Tancevski from Community First to stay on as a consultant.
The merged mutual bank will serve a target market that encompasses greater Sydney, the Illawarra region to the south and greater Newcastle to the north.
“Following approval from APRA, we anticipate the member voting process to occur at the 2024 AGMs of both CFB and ICU in late 2024” members were told.
“If approved, the merger integration process will be planned to occur in late 2024 with the system integration in the first half of 2025.
“Community First has a strong history in working through this process having successfully completed six mergers in more recent history.”
This is the second mutual ADI merger to be announced this year, the first being that between Bank Australia and Qudos Bank.