‘Mutuals’ Honoured in Industry Awards

The contribution of mutuals to the financial services industry has been highlighted with the presentation of industry awards at Mutuals 2012, Abacus AM Institute Convention.

Community First Credit Union, bankmecu and Teachers Mutual Bank were recognised for their contribution in the respective fields of innovation, community and sustainability.

Abacus CEO Louise Petschler said the awards underline the pride, passion and performance of management and staff at Australia's customer owned banking institutions.

"These award winners all embody the community values, innovative drive and sustainable practices championed as a whole by mutual institutions," Petschler said.

The awards winners included:

Community Award – bankmecu
bankmecu has been recognised for its support of the "BE THE HERO!" campaign – a partnership with the Victorian Women's Trust. It aims to reduce violence against women through an interactive program aimed at young men – primarily in high schools.

bankmecu Managing Director, Damien Walsh said the organisation was honoured by the award and that such a crucial program had been recognised by the customer owned banking sector.

“bankmecu invested in the Victorian Women’s Trust – Be The Hero program through its Community Investment Program, and has been encouraged by the positive impact it has had across Victoria,” Walsh said.

“The program has been strongly supported and is currently being used by Year 9 students throughout regional and metropolitan high schools.”

Sustainability Award – Teachers Mutual Bank
In March, TMB won Bronze in the Corporate Responsibility Index, published in the Financial Times, one of 110 organisations acknowledged worldwide. The CRI assesses performance against a range of sustainability criteria. TMB outperformed many of the world's largest companies.

Steve James, CEO of Teachers Mutual Bank, said: “Our sustainability approach underpins the way we do business – ensuring that we not only run a responsible and profitable business, but that we give back to our communities, and manage our impact on people and the planet.

“As a mutual bank, we believe that profit has a purpose. We don’t pay dividends to shareholders, instead reinvesting profits to help us deliver competitive rates, fairer fees, responsible lending, personalised service and to support our members’ communities.”

Innovation Award – Community First Credit Union
Community First launched a new "Matrimoney" deposit account designed to attract newly engaged couples. The account is free to open, includes registry cards for invitations and a higher interest rate. A micro-site allows wedding guests to contribute directly. Community First is the only financial institution in Australia offering this type of product.