Nearly a quarter (24.4 per cent) of respondents anticipate being involved in merger activity during 2022, the 2021 edition of the KPMG Mutuals Industry Review shows. This is up from 22.7 per cent in KPMG's 2020 study.

The tempo is picking up and the two announced mega-mergers are getting people talking.

The summer will produce a series of mergers and carve 58 mutuals into maybe 40 or so in a year.

"Being smaller, we can be nimble. We do lead in a lot of digital innovations and we don’t have the high barriers to entry that the neobanks have been facing," Michael Lawrence, CEO of the Customer Owned Banking Association told KPMG in an interview.

"I think there is a misconception that, because we don’t have the deep pockets of the major banks, we don’t innovate. But they need deep pockets. They’ve got very complex legacy systems. 

"We can be agile and the cost of bringing something to the market isn’t of the same magnitude.

"Over history, our sector was the first adopter of ATMs, the first with Apple Pay, Android Pay, the first to go to market with the NPP (New Payments Platform) and with Open Banking. 

"Also, our sector again has a history of being able to partner for innovation – rather than build or buy, mutual banks and credit unions will partner."