COMMUNITY CPS will become known as Beyond Bank Australia on August 1, following a process to turn the member-owned credit union into a mutual bank.

The credit union, which has eight branches in Canberra, was formed in 2007 through a merger between the Commonwealth Public Servants Credit Unions of the ACT and SA.

The credit union has over 200,000 members, who are both customers and equal shareholders, across the ACT, SA, WA, Wagga Wagga and the Hunter Valley region, where it trades under several different names as a result of mergers over the years.

United Community in WA, Companion Credit Union in the Hunter Valley, Wagga Mutual Credit Union and Alliance One Credit Union in SA will all be rebranded under the Beyond Bank Australia name.

Chief executive Robert Keogh said research undertaken by the organisation had shown that while credit union members were supportive of the member-owned business model – where no member can own a larger share than any other – over 30 per cent of non-members did not understand it.

The word ‘bank’, he said, would make it clear that the mutual organisation provided the same services as a bank without the need to keep shareholders happy.

“Our customer and our owner is one and the same, whereas with the banks you can be a customer but you don’t [necessarily] own it,” Mr Keogh explained. “So therefore we don’t have any conflict in dealing with our customers and our owners because they’re one. And that, from our point of view, is a huge point of difference. [The rebrand] is about saying, ‘How can we extend that point of difference?'”

The use of the word ‘bank’ in the new name required Community CPS to fulfil several requirements of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), including holding a minimum level of capital.

These requirements were recently relaxed through Federal Government reforms that aimed to encourage a more competitive banking sector, with mutual banks providing a “fifth pillar” to Australia’s financial system, Mr Keogh explained.

“Everyone understands what a bank does, so what we said was, ‘How can we take the great things that we do, in being a credit union, and keep all of that, but then have the understanding in the community where everyone knows what a bank does?'”

The CEO of the soon-to-be mutual bank explained that profits from credit unions are returned to members through slightly lower variable interest rates on home loans and higher interest rates on term deposits than offered by the major banks, as well as lower fees and charges.

“Our intention is to keep that, going forward,” Mr Keogh said.

“… while we were going through the process of becoming a mutual bank, we actually reduced our fees and charges to our members in January this year to the tune of almost $2 million a year.”

“At a time where things have been a bit tough in business generally, overall, one could probably come up with an an argument that justifies you to hold your fees up, but we said no, in past years we’ve made good profits and we’re going to return some of those profits to our members.”

Community CPS has donated more than $230,000 through its grants and sponsorship program over the last three years, including $20,000 for the Boundless Canberra inclusive playground and $15,000 for Volunteering ACT.