Tasmania’s only customer-owned bank, Bank of us, has appointed a new board chair.
Helen Galloway (pictured above) has been with Bank of us since 2019 working in a non-executive director position but she has now been promoted to board chair.
Galloway said she was thrilled to be taking on the new role at Bank of us.
“The bank’s five-year strategic plan places Tasmanians at the heart of banking and we intend to assist our customers and Tasmanians more broadly in the quest for greater financial literacy,” Galloway said.”
“Our vision is to be the bank of choice for Tasmanians by offering products and services that provide ‘real’ value for our customers – a key point of differentiation in our industry. Tasmanians deserve the opportunity to bank with an organisation that puts the needs of its customers, who are its owners, at the forefront of decision making.”
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The bank said Galloway possessed core skills in commercial strategy, finance, IT and analytics. She is a fellow of CPA Australia, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and has degrees in information systems and commerce.
Bank of us CEO Paul Ranson has welcomed Galloway’s appointment.
“Helen’s experience in senior executive roles at large corporate organisations has provided her with the skills and background needed to excel as chair,” Ranson said. “Helen has been a valuable member of the board since 2019 and I look forward to working closely with her on the future strategic direction of the bank.”
Galloway takes over as board chair from Scott Newton who served as chair since October 2020. Newton will continue to be a board director at Bank of us.
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In September, Bank of us released its 2021/22 financial year results, confirming the bank wrote $363m in loans, almost a 10% increase from the previous financial year. Other financial year highlights for the bank included growing its loan book to over $1.11bn, total assets increasing by 9.7% to $1.36bn, funding $341m of loans, recording 11% growth and increasing its customer base by over 32,000.
“The year’s great results also speak to our high-performance culture,” Ranson said. “We were able to write another record in loans while making sure we kept our retail stores open for our customers.”
