NEWCASTLE PERMANENT STRIVES TO DELIVER A BETTER BANKING EXPERIENCE TO CUSTOMERS THROUGH GROUND-BREAKING PARTNERSHIP WITH FINTECH AUSTRALIA

Newcastle Permanent has become the first customer owned financial institution in Australia to partner with Australia’s national fintech association FinTech Australia, which strives to foster a thriving fintech ecosystem.“This is a natural partnership for NPBS as we make connections to exciting fintech brands to enable us to further innovate, inform our digital evolution, and grow our business. This, in turn will support us providing a great experience for our customers,” said Bernadette Inglis, Newcastle Permanent CEO.“Newcastle Permanent is Australia’s second largest customer-owned financial institution. With assets of more than $11-billion, we are excited to become the first mutual to form an Ecosystem Partnership with FinTech Australia.”FinTech Australia brings together players within the financial technology ecosystem, facilitating collaboration, connection and conversation between fintechs, government and companies.“We welcome Newcastle Permanent’s commitment to collaborate further with the Australian fintech industry. Partnerships like this are fundamental in ensuring our local ecosystem scales and remains globally competitive,” said Rebecca Schot-Guppy, CEO of FinTech Australia.The partnership is part of Newcastle Permanent’s three year strategy which includes actively pursuing beneficial partnerships to help better support customers, grow the business and leverage the financial strength of the organisation.“Being an Ecosystem Partner means that we can collaborate with a broad range of fintech organisations, enabling seamless and quick alignment, and the opportunity to leverage ideas and opportunities that benefit our customers quickly and reliably,” said David Wilson, Newcastle Permanent Head of Strategy & Innovation.Newcastle Permanent has set a clear strategic roadmap to actively pursue partnership opportunities in emerging sectors of the finance industry to where they align to the core business of helping customers with their banking needs. This partnership has the potential to fast-track the growth strategy and build on the momentum underway within the business.The new relationship follows Newcastle Permanent’s September announcement of a partnership with fintech Athena Home Loans. The Athena partnership was recognised with an industry accolade in mid-November for its partnership model.“Our digital strategy, coupled with these fintech partnerships, demonstrate Newcastle Permanent’s strong appetite to build the banking experience our customers need today and will want tomorrow,” said CEO Bernadette Inglis.“We are confident that this partnership with FinTech Australia will create opportunities for us: ones which align with our core expertise and strategy, while enabling us to grow our business and deliver high-quality retail banking services for our customers,” Ms Inglis said.