The $20 billion merger of Newcastle Permanent and the Greater Bank begins on Wednesday, marking a new era for banking in the Hunter.
The new institution, known as Newcastle Greater Mutual Group or NGM Group, has vowed to prioritise customers by keeping its 100 branches open and providing "competitive interest rates".
The Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent brands will be retained in the merger, which members approved last November.
The group's CEO Bernadette Inglis said the new group's launch would be "an exciting day".
"It is the culmination of a significant amount of work that everyone in our organisations have done," Ms Inglis said.
Ms Inglis said the new group was starting from "a position of significant strength".
"Our total assets will be more than $20 billion," she said.
She said the two companies started with "quite humble beginnings".
Newcastle Permanent was established in 1903 and the Greater in 1945.
The merged entity is a "customer-owned bank", as opposed to the shareholder-owned big four corporate banks.
Asked if it would continue providing cheaper loans than the big banks and no account fees, Ms Inglis said: "I'd say to our customers, there is no change to their day-to-day banking, bank accounts or bank details".
Ms Inglis said competitive interest rates would continue to be provided to "our borrowers and depositors".
This includes term deposits, at-call accounts and home loans.
"We have made sure we're very competitive and we see no reason why we wouldn't continue that," she said.
"We are bringing together an organisation of 1600 people and over half a million customers.
"We intend to continue to grow in the Hunter and outside of the Hunter."
She added that customers would continue to experience good service, saying the bank would aim to have the "right capabilities - digital, physical and virtual".
"It's about having a service ethos," she said.
"As a mutual, we think about the interests of all our customers."
She said the priorities will be on "retaining and growing our customers", adding that the two brands had "high trust and a loyal customer base".
"We're committed to continuing that. We have been growing our customers at more than 1 per cent per annum. We do it by remaining relevant to our customers."
This involved having "digital capabilities that customers need" and "our branches available".
The new entity will have 100 branches from the Illawarra to the Gold Coast and inland to NSW's Central West.
"We have made a commitment that there will be no forced redundancies as a result of the merger for two years," Ms Inglis said.
"We have also committed to ensure we retain our 100 branches for that period as well.
"We haven't made any commitment about voluntary redundancies, but certainly we have made commitments to customers that nothing will change."
She said the bank will also ensure that "customers can call our local call centre in the Hunter when they need help".
The group will be the 10th largest Australian-owned bank and the largest mutual by net assets and capital base.
"That's a pretty big thing for a regional bank out of Newcastle," Ms Inglis said.
It will be among the largest customer-owned banks, along with the merged Heritage Bank and People's Choice Credit Union - which also begins on Wednesday.
Ms Inglis said the bank's purpose was to "help our customers and community strive".
"That's deeply embedded in our mutuality and why we are here.
"We are very confident and positive about the future for our customers, people and region."
When federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers approved the merger in September, he said his decision followed "a thorough assessment" of whether it was in the national interest.
"This included consideration of stability, efficiency and the need for a financial system that is competitive and benefits Australian households, businesses and communities," Mr Chalmers said.
The Treasurer said the merger was expected to "support competition and innovation in the banking sector by allowing these customer-owned banks to better compete with the larger players and deliver higher quality products and services to members".
This decision followed advice from Treasury and financial regulators, including the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
