Me Bank
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Banking |
| Predecessor | Super Member Home Loans (SMHL) |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Australia |
Area served | Australia wide |
Key people |
Jamie McPhee (CEO) Ken Hodgson (Chairman) Greg Combet (Board Member) |
Number of employees | 900 |
| Parent | 29 industry super funds |
| Website | www.mebank.com.au |
ME Bank, also known as ME, is an Australian direct bank based in Melbourne, Victoria. ME Bank also has offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin.
Founded in 1994 as Super Member Home Loans (SMHL) by Australia's Industry Super Funds, SMHL became Members Equity Bank in 1999, and received a banking licence from the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) in July 2001.
Initially founded to offer access home loan products, ME Bank today offers a range of low cost banking products including home loans, savings account, credit cards, term deposits, and transaction accounts.
ME Bank is owned by 29 industry super funds, including AustralianSuper, Cbus, HESTA, and HOSTPLUS.[1]
History
Industry Funds Services (IFS) was founded in 1994, and in turn SMHL was launched by the ACTU with National Mutual (later to become AXA). The primary focus of SMHL was on providing home loans to Australians belonging to industry superannuation funds.
In 1998, SMHL secured $1 billion in funds under management for the first time.
In 1999, IFS, a group of industry super funds enter into an agreement with AXA to establish a 50/50 joint venture company.
In 2000, the group of industry super funds and AXA launch the joint venture entity, Members Equity, to offer other banking products on as well as home loans.
In 2001, Members Equity Bank Limited obtains an Australian Banking Licence in July, and is approved to act as an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution by the APRA.
In 2002, the joint venture industry super funds become 100% owners of Members Equity.
In 2003, Members Equity Bank Limited obtains a Financial Services Licence and begins offering financial services including bank deposit accounts. During the same year the bank also achieves $10 billion in funds under management.
Members Equity Bank Limited re-branded to "ME Bank" in 2009 and later to "ME" in 2015.
Retail banking services
ME Bank offers customers a range of banking products and services, including transaction and savings accounts, home and personal loans, term deposits, and credit cards. Operating as a direct bank, ME Bank has no branch network. Services and support are provided over the phone, through online banking, or by a mobile salesforce of banking managers.
Products
- Savings and term deposit accounts
- Transaction accounts
- Variable and fixed-rate mortgage loans
- Personal loans
- Credit cards