List of Australian Banks

• The financial sector in Australia is based around the 4 big Australian banks. They control over 80% of the financial market, however there are more Australian Banks than just the big 4 and all of them have their own specific advantages.
• People who want a place to deposit their money and still have easy access to it, without excessive ATM bank fees, can choose from one of the following list of Australian Banks.

• The Big 4 Australian Banks

• Commonwealth Bank - It is one of the largest listed comanies in Australia, operates all over the country and even includes other finacnial services like Colonial First State Investments and CommSec share trading. The Commonwealth Bank also purchased Bank West in 2008, which to this day still runs as a totally separate enterprise.
• National Australia Bank - It has branches a services centres right across Australia as well as many overseas countries. The NAB also has an online division called UBank as well as significant insurance and investment services through the MLC brand.
• Westpac - It has the largest number of branches and service centres throughout Austrlaia because of its recent merger with the St George Bank in 2008. iThe Westpac Bank also bought the RAMS home lending service in 2008 which it still runs independantly, as well as operating numerous financial services via its BT Financial Group.
• ANZ Bank - It is the smallest of the big 4 Australian Banks but is still a very significant player and has branches and agents all over Australia. ANZ is also the largest bank in New Zealand and owns the online banking service provded by ING Australia.



• The Other Australian Banks

• Bendigo Bank - It operates Australia wide with many community bank branches and agencies including the Elders Rural Bank. The Bendigo bank also merged with the Adelaide Bank in 2007 to provide service to more people throughout the country.
• Bank of Queensland - It operates, as the name suggests, mostly out of Queensland, but also has some branches in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
• Suncorp Bank - It originally began as the largest insurance company in Australia, but merged with the Metway Bank in 1996. Today Suncorp Bank is agressively rebranding itself as a large bank with services right across Austrlaia, as well as being the main player in the insurance industry.
• Members Equity Bank - It is based mainly in Victoria and provides low fees, interest rates & benefits to its members because it is run by an industry super fund.
• Macquarie Bank - This is not really a retail bank for the general public as it is a global investment bank that provides managed investment funds for companies and retail clients.


• There are also a number of Australian banks that operate online only savings accounts. They generally offer higher interest rates because they have lower costs, but the drawback is that you will have to use the internet to transfer your money into another bank savings account in order to access your money. Some of these online only Australian banks include ING Direct, Rabobank and Virgin Money.
• There are also a number of international banks that have a limited number of branches and offices throughout Australia, including HSBC, Citibank, Bank of China, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, etc. These foreign banks are very handy if you wnat access to your money in Australia, but you also spend quite a bit of time in the particular banks country of origin.