As Australia’s second largest customer-owned bank, Heritage Bank (Heritage) has helped strengthen communities since 1875. Everything they do is underpinned by their People First philosophy. It’s not only an attitude but a service-based philosophy that defines the way Heritage does business. By being member-focused, Heritage assists people at every stage of their life to improve their financial wellbeing and to achieve their dreams and aspirations. Heritage uses its profits to help deliver competitive rates, exceptional services and great products to its members, not to pay big dividends to investors.

Heritage employs more than 800 people across Australia. Services are provided via a variety of avenues including:

• Retail banking branch network of 57 branches and three agency branches across south east Queensland and New South Wales,
• Local Contact Centre based at Head Office in Toowoomba,
• Broker distribution network across Australia,
• Web and mobile banking channels.

The Heritage community banking model means profits from community branches are distributed back into the community to support charities, sporting clubs and other local organisations. More than $60 million has been invested back into local communities since the first opened in 1999.

Heritage is proud of its performance and in 2020 topped international analyst JD Power’s Australian Bank Brand Authenticity Study and Australian Retail Banking Satisfaction Study rankings, along with being named No.1 in Australia in the Forbes World’s Best Bank survey for the second-straight year. Heritage also posted strong half-yearly results despite the impacts of COVID, with total consolidated assets rising past the $11 billion mark for the first time to $11.354 billion as at 31 December 2020.

Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation provides funding for projects aimed at building and improving community wellbeing and life outcomes for people, including disadvantaged and at-risk families, elderly persons and young people, particularly in relation to education, cultural, health, social and financial wellbeing.

Heritage is making banking a force for good with a vision of “passionate about helping people”. Heritage staff take immense pride in giving members the best banking experience they possibly can, consistently, every time. The strategy to achieve that mission is based on four key goals:

1. Attract and grow new members;
2. Build and maintain existing members;
3. Build a bank to be proud of, and;
4. Attract and grow passionate people.

The engine that drives the success of Heritage is the culture, which is underpinned by the key values Passion, Courage, Integrity and Respect.

Heritage Bank has a vibrant culture that embraces excellence. This is due to a focus on education, training and development initiatives to build the capability to deliver the organisation’s success. The Heritage Heroes program celebrates performance excellence through peer recognition, with 776 nominations within 2020 year, each award personally signed by the CEO.

Heritage Bank is committed to “Building an inclusive workforce with people from our communities, to offer a personalised, culturally respectful and inclusive Banking service.” One of the first initiatives was the recruitment of two new Syrian refugees who are on Australian humanitarian visas. Heritage is gaining national recognition for the initiative which support communities with their financial needs in their primary language.