Non-major appoints CCO

Heartland Bank Australia Limited (Heartland Bank) has named its new chief commercial officer (CCO) Medina Cicak, who will report directly to the bank’s CEO Michelle Winzer.

Cicak enters her role with the bank to head up the newly created commercial business unit that supports Heartland Bank’s retail, reverse mortgage, and livestock finance teams in order to “achieve their growth ambitions”.

She carries over eight years of experience in banking and financial services and specialises in developing and executing growth strategies that “drive tangible results”, according to Heartland Bank, with her expertise spanning a wide range of crucial areas such as strategy development, business expansion, project management, risk and compliance, product ownership, and operational excellence.

Prior to joining Heartland Bank, Cicak held several senior position roles within the financial services industry including at Suncorp Bank as operations delivery manager and more recently at RACQ Bank as head of lending product, operations, & distribution.

Commenting on her new role, Cicak said: “I am excited about leading the new Commercial team at Heartland Bank. And I’m looking forward to delivering the clear strategy to provide finance solutions that meet the unique needs of older Australians and livestock producers and graziers.”

Additionally, Winzer said: “I am thrilled that Medina has joined Heartland Bank. As we continue to work through bringing our businesses together, I am confident that under Medina’s leadership we will see a consistent focus with synergy across our distribution teams and a targeted approach to growth.

“It is our goal to help more Australians with their banking needs, within the specialist areas in which we operate in.”

Winzer herself was recently named as the Heartland Bank’s CEO, entering the role with over 30 years of experience in banking and financial services, also joining from RACQ Bank where she was CEO, banking.

This also comes as Heartland Bank named Vaughan Dixon to the role of chief technology & operations on 1 July 2024, bringing with him 25 years of industry experience across credit, risk, decisioning, technology, and credit bureaus.

Heartland Bank is a provider of reverse mortgages, a specialist provider of livestock finance and was established in May 2024 following the acquisition of Challenger Bank by New Zealand registered bank Heartland Bank Limited.

The bank in Australia was formed when Challenger Bank united with Heartland Group’s Australian specialist finance businesses: Heartland Finance and StockCo.

[RELATED: Heartland Bank names new CEO]

Adrian Suljanovic is a journalist at Broker Daily with more than two years experience reporting on all facets of the third party distribution channel.

Adrian has written for a range of business and finance titles including IFA, Investor Daily and Lawyer’s Weekly before joining the mortgages team in 2022.

He graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2021 gaining a Bachelor of Communication & Media with a major in Digital & Social Media.

E-mail Adrian at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.