Financial Services Australia

Financial Solutions. For Life. Net profit* up During the year, customer service ratings improved to

About Us 

Financial Services Australia provides retail, business and Agribusiness financial solutions for our customers in Australia. This area was recently restructured and now includes all Australian-based consumer, business and Agribusiness banking and back-office functions.

HIGHLIGHTS Net profit* increased by 29% to $1,770 million due to solid income growth and lower provisioning charges reflecting sound asset quality Every home loan customer in Australia will soon have a relationship banker to help meet their unique financial needs 53% of our branches, 42% of Australia Post (giroPost) locations, 26% of the National's ATMs and 107 Agribusiness Centres are located in rural Australia Customers can now conduct face-to-face transactions at over 2,900 Australia Post outlets and almost 800 National branches across Australia     *Excludes the after tax impact of significant items

A combination of factors contributed to FSA's strong performance. Housing lending grew by 21% or $11,460 million as Australians took advantage of a low interest rate environment to use equity in their home to generate wealth. In Australia, 17% of all home mortgages are now held with the National. This is due in part to strong growth in sales of home loans through mortgage brokers and other channels.

Two popular new products were added to the business portfolio during the year - a Business Investment Account and a New Business Loan. The first account provides a higher return and instant access to funds. The second features our lowest business interest rates in years.

As loan-processing volumes have increased, staff efficiency gains and enhanced technology - including over 11,500 new personal computers - have ensured significant improvements in productivity and efficiency. The net result? Excellent revenue growth while back-office costs stayed flat.

Financial solutions. For life.
We aim to be the financial services provider that Australians trust to meet their needs.

To do this, we are improving the way we interact with our customers, renewing our products, our physical outlets and our touchpoints.

We are also improving the transparency of our pricing, and developing meaningful and respected community relationships. Some of our achievements to date are highlighted below.

Convenient access
During the year we strengthened our arrangement with Australia Post to offer customers an extensive over-the-counter transactional service. This includes almost 800 branches and over 2,900 giroPost-enabled Australia Post outlets.

59% growth in online users
Over 740,000 National customers in Australia have embraced the convenience of our online services. During the year, national.com.au was upgraded to a Windows-based product to make banking online simpler and more convenient.

Investing in our network
We have committed to invest around $10 million in our regional branch and customer network. This includes building 16 new Financial Service Centres across Australia. Centres at Toowoomba and Geelong are already operational, with more opening soon.

These new Centres offer financial planning, home loans and relationship banking services. Some will also have a branch at the same location to meet most customers' needs in one place.

We are also planning to invest over $20 million in our physical network over the next year.

Strong rural commitment
Australian farmers have been hit hard by recent droughts. As part of our commitment to rural communities, we announced an assistance package for farming customers. This package included restructuring loans to reduce or defer repayments, providing carry-on finance to cover cashflow shortages, concessions on loan fees and waiving early withdrawal penalties.

Agribusiness Credit Centres were also opened in the agricultural hubs of Toowoomba and Albury. By centralising administration and back-office functions, Agribusiness bankers can spend more time on farms with rural customers.

We have almost 500 Agribusiness bankers in over 100 locations.

Credit quality
During the year, provisioning charges have decreased, driven by active credit risk management. We conducted an extensive review of the business loan portfolio and a major program to improve capital efficiency and reduce credit risk.

Investing in technology
Our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) sales and service platform enables frontline staff to work together with the back-office support areas to provide a fully integrated, seamless and end-to-end service to our customers.

Upgraded hardware and software available to our bankers enable them to meet customer needs more effectively. They also provide access to new products such as electronic consumer lending and electronic business lending. These products and services streamline and automate our processes, giving staff more time for quality interaction with customers.