Westpac & St. George

[the_fresh]

I'm a St. George customer and feel I have to wrote about this merger.
I was once a westpac customer through the Bank of Melbourne, after the rebranding of the bank I stayed for about 6 months before having enough, fees went up, new fees came in and service went out the window. As with all big banks its about making money and forcing the customer onto the street and to the ATM's.
I left and went to St. George and I've been happy with my banking ever since, the level of service is by far the best. I always get a smile, help and leave knowing that they did all they can to help.
The extra services are awesome, internet banking is easier to use, the SMS balance and withdrawal messages are better than what any other bank can offer and they lead the way on the phone banking.
All this will go with Westpac.


As soon as this merger goes ahead I will close my account and warn those who still have accounts with St. George to do the same, with any luck the greedy shareholders will take a huge hit in the pocket and the merger fails. Banks like Bendigo are opening up all over the place and the merger will give me a reason to switch.

 

[stormee]

Feeel free to vote with your feet I suppose, if you feel so strongly about it.
But as a shareholder and customer of WBC I'm happy about it.
Remember, the boards of both companies have an obligation first to their shareholders and then to others such as customers and employees, its the way the corporate world works.
If they feel it is in the best interests of the shareholders then it will go ahead. And if the unions or Wayne Swan want to block the merger then in my mind they're standing in the way of free enterprise. Your money might be held by the banks, and its your right to move it. However as an investor i have a right to get the best gains possible back from my investment - its one of the core philosophies of investing in public companies and always has been, the Corporations Act is basically structured around this. As long as the merger isnt breaking any rules as far as competition goes, then I see no reason why it should be opposed.

 

[FIGJAM]

The merger should be conditional on two things:

• The combined bank must get rid of all seahorse looking dragon imagery and Westpac's 1980's logo.

• The ATM's should and must not have a cheery bitch guiding me through a basic process with her stupid smiley face.

That is all.

 

[The Passenger]

The merger should be conditional on two things:

• The combined bank must get rid of all seahorse looking dragon imagery and Westpac's 1980's logo.

• The ATM's should and must not have a cheery bitch guiding me through a basic process with her stupid smiley face.

That is all.

too true.

i'm a st george customer and have been for 10 years since i was 13. they've been great.

the only time i've ever had a problem with them was when i lost my ATM card and they charged me $50 for a replacement. I expected some sort of charge but i thought that was excessive. I also lost my Bank of Ireland card (my entire wallet) and they replaced my card free of charge....

What's the deal with this merger??

would it effect stuff like internet banking and whatever else??

 

[cocka]

too true.

What's the deal with this merger??

would it effect stuff like internet banking and whatever else??

Like most of these mergers, the customer won't notice much difference, unless you are in a small country town that has both a Westpac and a St. george branch, it would be likely a branch would disappear.

What they will do is merge head offices, computer systems etc. to get their cost cuts.

 

[TheBloods]

Another bullshit merger by a new CEO looking to do something spectacular, which will simply consist of sacking a whole heap of staff, closing branches, and adding little shareholder value.

 

[The Passenger]

will the new bank be st george or westpac??

 

[TheBloods]

They'll run both brands and then after a few years the StGeorge brand will disappear and it will all be Westpac.

 

[cocka]

They'll run both brands and then after a few years the StGeorge brand will disappear and it will all be Westpac.

I don't think so.

The brands/branches will remain. But what is sitting behind them will be one giant monolith called Westpac. It is in their best interest to keep the brands, as St George still do here in SA with BankSA.

It is like GM Motors own Opel, Chev, Holden, SAAB etc. they haven't changed all the brands to one name GM.

 

[TheBloods]

Westpac bought Bank of Melb and Challenge, and neither of those brands exist any more.

 

[cocka]

Westpac bought Bank of Melb and Challenge, and neither of those brands exist any more.

I take that all back then.

 

[TheBloods]

Your reasoning was right, but banks often don't act with much reason!

 

[Rob]

Another bullshit merger by a new CEO looking to do something spectacular, which will simply consist of sacking a whole heap of staff, closing branches, and adding little shareholder value.

More customers and less costs represents pretty damn good shareholder value if you ask me.

 

[TheBloods]

More customers and less costs represents pretty damn good shareholder value if you ask me.

They pay for the customers in the premium for the acquisition and then they have to keep those new customers. Then there are the acquisition and integration costs and then the cost impact on productivity and performance. Then, eventually there are no greater cost benefits relative to where they were to start with on a cost/income ratio.

 

[Rob]

They pay for the customers in the premium for the acquisition and then they have to keep those new customers. Then there are the acquisition and integration costs and then the cost impact on productivity and performance. Then, eventually there are no greater cost benefits relative to where they were to start with on a cost/income ratio.

So why do it?

 

[TheBloods]

So why do it?

Why do any acquisition? CEOs need to be seen to be doing something spectacular. Look at most M&A activity globally - it's done because (i) the CEO is new, (ii) the coy is struggling, (iii) chance for short-term gains, (iv) it looks sexy but has little real value.

 

[Pornstar]

The acquisition of the smaller banks maintains the big 4's oligopoly situation in this country. They have nothing to fear from international competition, so all they have to do is swallow up the smaller banks if they start to emerge as major competition. That way they can continue to charge us through the nose and provide poor service.

 

[year of the roo]

The acquisition of the smaller banks maintains the big 4's oligopoly situation in this country. They have nothing to fear from international competition, so all they have to do is swallow up the smaller banks if they start to emerge as major competition. That way they can continue to charge us through the nose and provide poor service.

Thread nailed.

 

[FIGJAM]

They have nothing to fear from international competition...

Keep an eye on BankWest (Bank of Scotland).

 

[utility]

• The ATM's should and must not have a cheery bitch guiding me through a basic process with her stupid smiley face.

Haha. When they changed the ATMs a few years ago I made an official complaint about that cheery bitch... glad I'm not the only one that wants rid of her!

 

[dmc333]

Am I correct in thinking St. George has all the hottest hunnies working for them? If so, I suggest purging all westpac branch staff and replacing them with St.George employees.

Not that I'm in a bank often, but I'd rather not look at the old boilers I see at Westpac.

 

[the_fresh]

Am I correct in thinking St. George has all the hottest hunnies working for them? If so, I suggest purging all westpac branch staff and replacing them with St.George employees.

Not that I'm in a bank often, but I'd rather not look at the old boilers I see at Westpac.

By a fair way as well.

The best way it's to sum it up is some bloke walked into a modeling school and asked who wants to work in a bank.

 

[Leper]

By a fair way as well.

The best way it's to sum it up is some bloke walked into a modeling school and asked who wants to work in a bank.

Twas the day after Branson cleaned out the cream of them to work for Virgin Blue

A month later the Qantas CEO cleared out the Boiler Room out the back looking for staff thinking it was some way of helping his share price.....