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Who owns Bendigo Bank, BOQ, ING & more

A lot of smaller banks, credit unions and building societies are actually owned by bigger banks. For example Bankwest is owned by CommBank, and ubank is owned by NAB. Find out if your bank is owned by another bank, and how this impacts customers.

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Alison Banney

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At a glance: Who owns my bank?

Commonwealth BankWestpacNABBank of QueenslandBendigo Bank
BankwestRAMSUbankVirgin MoneyAdelaide Bank
Aussie (as a major shareholder)St.GeorgeMLCInvestec BankDelphi Bank
Colonial First StateBankSABank of New ZealandHome Building Society LtdRural Bank
Bank of Melbourne86 400ME BankUp

In depth: Who owns my bank?

Finder survey: What do Australians want in a savings account?

ResponseMaleFemale
A competitive interest rate52.26%51.55%
A bank I know and trust43.42%43.97%
No restrictions on monthly withdrawals25.19%27.93%
A simple application process19.17%17.24%
The connected transaction account12.59%13.97%
A low deposit requirement10.9%11.03%
Extra features like round-ups or savings buckets3.76%4.14%
None of the above3.57%3.45%
Other1.88%2.76%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1113 Australians, December 2023

Does it matter if my bank is owned by another bank?

For consumers looking for a better deal, it may be of concern that many of the alternative lenders are actually owned by the big three banks – Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and NAB. This matters, because the Australian government's Financial Claims Scheme (FCS), which guarantees the security of your money in banks up to $250,000 per institution, applies to a bank's subsidiaries as well. Without knowing which banks own what, your savings might not be as secure as you might think.

For example, let's say you had $250,000 in a savings account with ubank and another $250,000 in a savings account with NAB. Because ubank is owned by NAB, these two banks share the one banking licence. This means that the Australian government will only guarantee your deposit up to $250,000 with both ubank and NAB, not the full $500,000 you have deposited.

However, because ubank and Westpac are operating under different licences, if you had your $500,000 split between these two banks instead the full amount would be covered under the scheme.

Benefits of your bank being owned by another bank

There are some benefits to your bank being owned by a larger bank too. You usually get access to the larger banks ATM network all over the world, which is convenient and can also save you money in fees.

For example, St.George, BankSA, RAMS and Bank of Melbourne are all owned by Westpac. Westpac has the largest global ATM network with more 50,000 ATMs around the globe. If you're a customer of one of these smaller banks, you'll also get fee-free access to Westpac's huge ATM network.

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Editor

Alison Banney is the money editorial manager at Finder. She covers all areas of personal finance, and her areas of expertise are superannuation, banking and saving. She has written about finance for 10 years, having previously worked at Westpac and written for several other major banks and super funds. See full bio

Alison's expertise
Alison has written 651 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Superannuation
  • Savings accounts, bank accounts and term deposits
  • Budgeting and money-saving hacks
  • Managing the cost of living
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58 Responses

    Default Gravatar
    MichealOctober 6, 2018

    Tire 1 regulations enforced by Reserve Bank overfinancial institutions ——-Does the Reserve Bank impose impose higher deposit percentage amounts on Bank of Queensland for it’s RB guarantee as compared to what it does for the larger 4 Aussie Banks?

      AvatarFinder
      MayOctober 8, 2018Finder

      Hi Michael,

      Thanks for your question.

      If you’re pertaining to the total amount of deposits the customers are required to have in their account which is guaranteed by the government, then no. The Australian Government has guaranteed deposits up to $250,000 and this applies to all Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) such as your bank, building society, or credit union, including the Bank of Queensland. You can read more about government guarantee on deposits on the ASIC website.

      Otherwise, if you’re checking whether the Tier 1 capital that consists of the funding sources to which BOQ can most freely allocate losses, best to get in touch about this with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). I’m afraid we have limited information with regard to Tier 1 regulations on capital over financial institutions in Australia.

      Hope this helps.

      Cheers,
      May

    Default Gravatar
    AnonymousSeptember 26, 2018

    Who owns ING bank and is it covered under the ADI?

      AvatarFinder
      JhezelynSeptember 26, 2018Finder

      Hello,

      Thank you for your comment.

      ING uses the trading name of ING Bank (Australia) Limited, is wholly owned by ING Group. ING holds an Australian banking licence since 1994 and is regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), like all banks. They are guaranteed by the Australian Government. I hope this helps.

      Should you wish to have real-time answers to your questions, try our chat box on the lower right corner of our page.

      Regards,
      Jhezelyn

    Default Gravatar
    ThomasMay 20, 2018

    Who owns maquarie bank?

      AvatarFinder
      JeniMay 20, 2018Finder

      Hi Thomas,

      Thank you for getting in touch with finder.

      As a friendly reminder, while we do not represent any company we feature on our pages, we can offer you general advice.

      Macquarie is listed in Australia (ASX:MQG) and is regulated by Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Australian banking regulator, as the owner of Macquarie Bank Limited, an authorised deposit taker.

      I hope this helps.

      Have a great day!

      Cheers,
      Jeni

    Default Gravatar
    SteveMay 1, 2018

    What guarantee do people have who have OVER $250,000?

      AvatarFinder
      JeniMay 1, 2018Finder

      Hi Steve,

      Thank you for getting in touch with Finder.

      The Australian Government Guarantee Scheme protect up to $250,000 in Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) such as banks, building societies or credit unions. This means that this money is guaranteed if the institution collapses.

      This cap applies per person and per ADI. If you have separate accounts with different protected banks with less than $250,000 in them, you will be covered for both accounts. If you have more than $250,000 in a single account, you won’t be covered for the amount over $250,000. If you have $250,000 with two different “brands” but they’re operated under the same ADI, you’ll only get $250,000 in total.

      I hope this helps.

      Have a great day!

      Cheers,
      Jeni

    Default Gravatar
    PeterMarch 12, 2018

    I received a financial news letter that stated ” under existing legislation, all four big banks are seen as a single ‘ADI’” and as a result deposits are not guaranteed above a cumulative $250,000.
    Is this the case?

      AvatarFinder
      MayMarch 28, 2018Finder

      Hi Peter,

      Thanks for your inquiry.

      Just for clarification, when you have 250,000 with two different “brands” but they’re operated under the same ADI, you’ll only get $250,000 in total as a guarantee. We have an article about the Australian Government Guarantee Scheme that explains this.

      The government guarantee covers the underlying ADI and not different brands. Some ADIs offer multiple accounts under different brand names (like Westpac and St.George). If you have multiple accounts under different brand names but all under one ADI, the guarantee only applies to the ADI and not the different brands.

      Hope this helps.

      Cheers,
      May

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