Remind me why we need to merge?

Competition in banking and financial services is intensifying, margins are compressed, and operating costs, including those required to respond to regulatory change, are increasing. The recommendations of the Royal Commission into Banking, and other regulatory requirements create significant resource burdens on smaller mutuals and the Board of Hunter United did not see the regulatory landscape becoming any less onerous in the future. The cost of expanding product offerings, along with continuous improvements in security, fraud prevention and staff training, will make it increasingly difficult for small mutuals like Hunter United to meet customer expectations going forward.

The Board proposed that merging with a strong and secure, like-minded organisation, is a better option than attempting to face these challenges as a standalone entity. By merging with IMB Bank, Hunter United will be in the best position to provide high quality, personal service to members, to protect the customer-owned way of banking and to offer the evolving range of products and services members will need and want over the longer term.

The merger took place on May 1, 2020 with Hunter United now a division of IMB Ltd.