It's been one year since the $20-billion merger between the Newcastle Permanent and the Greater Bank, and the new entity has seen a 15 per cent increase in customers.
Collectively, the new organisation is known as Newcastle Greater Mutual Group - or NGM Group for short - and is looking to expand its footprint well beyond the Hunter Valley.
Both retail brands will continue to operate, and the Newcastle Permanent and the Greater Bank have retained their own customer lists and branch networks.
NGM Group chief executive Bernadette Inglis said that since the merger, both banks had boosted deposits, lending and customers, and now support more than 600,000 Australians with their banking.
"We've already seen a 15 per cent uplift in new customers," Ms Inglis said.
"The merger has been great for sharing resources and knowledge between [the Greater and Newcastle Permanent] teams.
"What this all means is that we have a very strong foundation on which to build and grow into the future, from right here in the Hunter."
NGM Group's inaugural financial results reported $16.5 billion in customer deposits and a home loan portfolio valued at $15.3 billion.
Its total assets are more than $20 billion, and with net assets of $1.7 billion and capital of $1.6 billion, and can lay claim to being one of the one of the best capitalised Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions in the nation.
Ms Inglis said her organisation had a simple goal: to be Australia's leading customer-owned bank.
"To get there, we are focusing our efforts on retaining and growing customers, investing in our people, introducing new technology and continuing to support the local communities that support us," she said.
"Critical to this will be innovating our product offering, an example of which is our new digital mortgage which can see a home loan approved in 20 minutes."
What the search for a new office means for current sites
NGM Group employs about 1600 people, operating along the coast from the Illawarra to the Gold Coast and extending inland through the New England and Central West.
Ms Inglis said the organisation was looking to expand into new territories.
"We intend to keep going, deepening our market share here in the Hunter, but also starting to expand into new regions," Ms Inglis said.
Despite the desire to expand its footprint, NGM Group has confirmed its new head office will be in the Hunter.
"A key goal for us is to bring our corporate office teams together under one roof, and we've started the process of looking for a new space that better suits our needs as a bigger organisation," Ms Inglis said.
"It is very early days, and we anticipate this process will take a number of years, but we're pretty excited about it.
"Looking for a new space gives us an opportunity to design an office that better suits how we're now working and collaborating, as well as planning ahead for the future.
"The one thing we do know for sure is that we're not going anywhere. Both the Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank were founded in this region, so it's important to us that this remains our home."
Hunter Means Business asked what future plans NGM Group had for its current head offices, both of which sit on large blocks in highly sought after locations.
The Greater head office is on the corner of Hamilton's Beaumont and Tudor streets and Newcastle Permanent occupies the corner of King and Union streets in Newcastle West.
"These buildings are both important assets for NGM Group, being locally significant and having long histories, but right now our focus is on finding a new space," Ms Inglis said.
"Once we've determined what that looks like, we will consider plans for these sites."
NGM Group board member Jayne Drinkwater announced she will retire at the end of the year. She served on Greater board for 13 years before the merger and led the bank's Charitable Foundation Board.
