Heritage appoints head of business to spearhead expansion

Mr Nevis joined Heritage in January 2019, previously serving as product manager, business banking and third party.

Prior to joining Heritage, Mr Nevis held senior leadership roles at Westpac Group, Suncorp, BOQ and Auswide Bank.

“I’m excited about the future as we partner with our existing and new business customers, particularly helping them to navigate through the difficulties that COVID-19 has created,” he said following the announcement.

“No matter what type of business, and where they are located, everyone will need support from their bank to respond to the changed environment.”

Mr Nevis’ appointment forms part of a push to expand Heritage’s presence in the SME space.   

Heritage has claimed that it aims to “carve out a national niche” in the SME space and “quadruple” the size of its business banking portfolio in the next three years by “meeting an underserved need for SME banking that’s based on relationships”.

Heritage CEO Peter Lock commented: “We’ve had a modest business banking division for a number of years, but there’s enormous potential to expand its scope and provide business operators with the same outstanding banking experience that our home loan customers have enjoyed for many years.

“There’s an underserved segment of the business banking market that’s crying out for a relationship-based approach. 

“That’s not something the big banks execute well. They take more of a cookie-cutter approach.”

Mr Lock noted that the third-party channel would play a key role in the execution of its strategy.

“We’re sure that our business banking offering will resonate with SMEs right around the country,” he added.

Heritage has marked the launch of its new strategy with the opening of a new Business Banking Centre in Toowoomba, Queensland.

[Related: Specialist lender appoints new GM of distribution]