The story
In 1982 Westpac Banking Corporation was formed by the merger of the Bank of New South Wales and the Commercial Bank of Australia. The new name, Westpac, was a portmanteau reflecting its mission of becoming a significant Western Pacific bank. The brand name incorporated the "W" that had been the logo of the Bank of New South Wales. Subsequent significant events:
1984: The original agreement between BNSW and the government in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands expired and Westpac and the government of Kiribati formed the Bank of Kiribati as a 51–49% joint venture. Bank of Kiribati also fulfilled the functions of a reserve or central bank.
1985: Westpac replaced Barclays in the National Bank of Tuvalu (est. 1981) in Tuvalu (ex-Ellice Islands), taking 40% of the shares as well as a 10-year management contract.
1988: the firm acquired the European Pacific Banking Corporation in the Cook Islands and a HSBC subsidiary, the Solomon Islands Banking Corporation, which HSBC had established as a branch in 1973. Westpac also acquired HSBC's operations in Fiji and the New Hebrides, and established a branch in Niue that is the only bank in that country. (HSBC had established its branch in Fiji only some 18 months earlier).
1990: Bank of New Zealand sold half its shares in Bank of Tonga to Westpac and half to Bank of Hawaii, giving each of them 30%. Westpac bought Banque Indosuez's operations in New Caledonia and Tahiti. (Banque de l'Indochine, which later merged into Banque Indosuez, had established itself in New Caledonia in 1888 and in Papeete, Tahiti in 1905. In both places l'Indochine functioned as the bank of issue until 1966–1967.)
1992: Westpac recorded a 1.6 billion dollar loss, which at the time was the largest loss for an Australian corporation. In the process the firm came close to insolvency, and slipped from being Australia's largest to third-largest bank.
1995: Westpac sold its shares in National Bank of Tuvalu to that country's government, which now wholly owns the bank.
1995: Westpac acquired Challenge Bank.
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1996: WBC Holdings NZ bought Trust Bank, a chain of regional banks owned by Community Trusts, for NZD1.2 billion to form NZ largest bank, WestpacTrust. The bank had promised to keep the funding to Community Trusts flowing and to keep "Trust" in its name. However, Community Trust funding slowed to a trickle, and in 2002 the bank launched a rebranding which included dropping the "Trust" from its name. The merger of WBC Holdings NZ and Trustbank also saw the closure of many branches around New Zealand. In towns and cities where both and Trustbank existed, the bank merged redundant branches into a single branch; also it closed many branches in rural areas and outer suburbs.
1996: Westpac sold Challenge Bank's Victorian assets to the Bank of Melbourne.
1997: Westpac acquired Bank of Melbourne in Victoria, paying an estimated price in excess of A$1.4 billion. Westpac retained the rights to the Bank of Melbourne name and logos, but in 2004 rebadged the branches as Westpac. In 2011, Westpac relaunched the brand.
1998: Westpac sold its operations in New Caledonia and Tahiti to Société Générale, which merged them with Société Générale Calédonienne de Banque (est. 1971) and Banque de Polynésie (est. 1973) respectively.
2001: The government of Kiribati sought to reduce Westpac's share in Bank of Kiribati from 51 to 49%, leading Westpac to sell its shares back to the government. Bank of Hawaii sold its interest in Pacific Commercial Bank (42.7%) to Westpac, which held an equal portion. Westpac offered Samoan investors, who held the remaining shares, the same price it had paid Bank of Hawaii. Westpac now owns 93.5% of Westpac Bank Samoa and Samoan companies and individuals own 6.5%. In Tonga, Bank of Hawaii sold its shares in Bank of Tonga to Westpac, giving Westpac 60% ownership of what is now Westpac Bank of Tonga.
2002: Westpac acquired BT and Rothschild Australia Asset Management.
2004: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand required Westpac to incorporate its NZ branches network.
2004: Westpac sold its branch in Niue to Bank of South Pacific.
2008: Former St George Bank CEO Gail Kelly appointed chief executive officer and managing director.
2008: Westpac announced that it intended to merge with the 5th largest Australian bank, St George Bank, for A$19 billion. The holders of about 95% of St George's shares voted in favour of the merger.
2008: On 17 November, the Federal Court of Australia approved the merger of Westpac and St George.
2011: During July, St George branches in the state of Victoria were rebadged as Bank of Melbourne branches.
In early February 2012, Westpac announced plans to axe more than 400 domestic jobs and another 150 offshore jobs. This action was a response to much slower growth over the past several years and the desire to rationalise following Westpac's 2008 merger with St. George Bank.
In 2014, Brian Hartzer was named CEO of Westpac.
2017: Westpac celebrated its 200th anniversary.
2020: In April, Peter King was appointed CEO of Westpac, replacing Brian Hartzer.
2024: In September, Anthony Miller was appointed CEO of Westpac, succeeding Peter King.
Between 2015 and 2025 the group closed more than 400 branches, as well as all of its agencies, in Australia between its four bank brands, including 103 out of 106 Bank of Melbourne branches, and at least 100 regional branch closures. The figure does, however, include several (but not a significant amount of) branch co-locations where Westpac and a subsidiary such as BankSA or St George are brought together into one branch, and the other location being vacated. There are 111 co-located branches as of Westpac's 2024 annual report, up from 82 in 2023. On 1 May 2024, the group announced a moratorium on regional branch closures until 2027. This was extended until 2030 on 16 November 2025.
From Wikipedia’s article on Westpac, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5