APRA approves Wide Bay bank status

The move follows shareholder approval on January 20 of a change of company name to Auswide Bank Ltd.

APRA’s consent was required prior to the company commencing use of the restricted word ‘bank’.

“The Board is pleased to confirm that Wide Bay Australia Ltd will become Auswide Bank Ltd on April 1, 2015,” Wide Bay Australia chairman John Humphrey said in a statement.

“Auswide Bank will officially be Australia’s tenth and Queensland’s third Australian-owned bank, listed and trading on the ASX.”

Martin Barrett, the bank’s managing director, reassured customers about the change.

“Our customers can continue to expect to receive great service and competitive products from people they know and trust,” Mr Barrett said.

“In fact, we see an opportunity to redefine what banking means by showing what real banking is all about.”