Staff Reporter
Australia’s credit unions and building societies enjoyed substantial volume growth in January, new figures have revealed.
APRA statistics released yesterday show the mutual banking sector grew by 10.7 per cent in 2010, with total assets now above $77 billion.
This compares with comparable growth of 4.4 per cent in residential assets for banks over the same period. These results follow the December ABS results which found CUBS were writing almost 11 per cent of new home loans in Australia – a jump from 6.5 per cent two years ago.
“The strong growth of mutuals reflects the value they offer their customers – who are also their owners,” Abacus chief executive Louise Petschler said.
"As more people learn about our services more make the move to mutual banking. And why wouldn’t they? While the big banks are breaking up with each other we’re sticking with our members and offering consistently better rates over the long term.”
