I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our previous CEO Michael Anastasi who completed his term with Qudos Bank on 28th March.
Michael was an integral part of the Qudos Bank family since joining us as Chief Financial Officer in 2004. He took on the role of Acting Chief Executive Officer in 2019 before becoming our CEO in 2020. For 19 years, he was dedicated to our success and growth, and we will always be grateful for his commitment and hard work. We thank Michael for his years of service leading Qudos Bank and wish him well with his future endeavours.
In the meantime, the Board has asked me to serve as Executive Chair on an interim basis. Additionally, Cindy Hansen our General Counsel & Company Secretary of 20 years will be supporting me as Deputy CEO during this period, as we work to appoint a new CEO.
I’m privileged to be part of an exciting phase of our business, the beginning of a transformation that will ultimately redefine our future strategy and provide clearer brand positioning and identity, allowing us to deliver increased value and instil repeated confidence for our customers.
I’d like to take this opportunity to share some recent initiatives we’ve implemented over the past quarter as well some important information on the security of your money.
We understand that recent inflation hikes have increased the cost of living, impacting our home loan interest rates. As a customer-owned bank, we strive to remain competitive while maintaining sustainable growth within a rapidly changing economic environment. To support our customers with lending interest rate rises, we’ve also increased the interest rates on most of our deposit and savings accounts.
Our team are also actively working to help our customers build their financial literacy with a range of helpful articles, blogs and videos on money, lifestyle, and security, including budgeting through our Money Moments webpage. We’ve got some handy tools, tips and calculators to help you budget and manage your finances. You can also read our 7 ways to handle the rising cost of living article.
The role of technology and the significance it plays in the financial services industry continues to increase, that’s why we’re working on several initiatives that will help improve our digital capabilities on our Mobile App and Online Banking. It’s important that we continue to receive customer feedback to ensure we’re supporting your banking needs so I encourage you to use the App Feedback feature.
We acknowledge this has been a difficult period for some of our customers and encourage you to contact our Financial Assistance team on 1300 747 747 if you require financial support. Our team can work with you to tailor options that consider your individual financial circumstances to help you get back on track and in control of your finances.
At Qudos Bank, you can feel comfort in knowing that your savings are safe with us under the Australian Government’s bank deposit guarantee, also known as the Financial Claims Scheme (FCS).
The FCS applies to deposits held in all authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) incorporated in Australia. This comprises banks of all sizes, credit unions and building societies, including Qudos Bank.
Under the FCS, the Government guarantees deposits up to a cap of $250,000 per account-holder, per ADI. ADI’s of all sizes need to meet the same, extensive prudential standards and are overseen by the same regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA).
Qudos Bank is protected by the Australian Government FCS, so our customers can rest assured that their money is safe with us.
I’m pleased to share that we continue to deliver strong results across our core business of home lending and deposits despite the rapidly changing economic environment. Our current capital and liquidity ratios are well above the minimum regulatory requirements. In the 22/23 financial year to date, our financial performance continues to grow, which is good news as we strive to continue to deliver value to our customers and community.
Here are some of the key highlights of our financial performance in the 9 months ending 31 March 2023:
I’m excited to share that Qudos Bank has recently won prestigious awards from industry experts Canstar and Mozo for a number of our home loan products in the following areas:
We’re humbled to be recognised for our home loan products and it wouldn’t be possible without the continued support and feedback from our customers. We will always do our best to remain competitive when it comes to our home loan products, while also ensuring that our customers get access to the services they need to help manage their mortgages, such as redraw facilities and offset accounts.
You can find out more about our award-winning home loan products on our website.
I look forward to updating you again in the coming months. Again, I’d like to thank our customers for their continued support and feedback which is helping us evolve together as a purpose led, customer-owned bank.