Westpac

Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Westpac shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Westpac offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Westpac at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Westpac? Wrong! If the Westpac is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Westpac then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Westpac? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Westpac and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Westpac wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Westpac then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Westpac site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Westpac, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Westpac, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

This article is about the bank. For the defunct airline, see Western Pacific Airlines. For the rescue helicopter, see Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter.

{{Infobox_Company| company_name = Westpac Banking Corporation| company_logo = | company_type = Public ()| company_slogan = Your Future is Our Future| foundation = 1817, [Australia ([CEO)

Ted Evans (Chairman)]| num_employees = 30,000 ref| products = Personal Banking
Business Banking
Commercial Lending
Personal Lending
Home Mortgage Loans
Share & Equity Management| revenue = $18.1 billion Australian dollar (2004)]. Westpac has also been recognised by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as the most sustainable bank in the world for the fifth year running. On Friday 17 August 2007, Gail Kelly announced her resignation as CEO of St. George Bank to take up the same position at Westpac from 2008. Core Business Activities Westpac's core businesses consist of nine business units (five customer facing), through which it serves around 8.2 million customers. These business areas are— Consumer Financial Services (CFS) This includes deposit taking, transaction accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and other lending. Westpac is a major home loan provider and also serves the financial needs of business customers with a turnover of up to $20 million. Investment, superannuation and general and life insurance products are also sold through the branch (banking).In the past, CFS and BFS (see below) combined to form Business & Consumer Banking (BCB).

Business Financial Services(BFS) BFS provides banking services to small and medium enterprises.

BT Financial Group (BT) BT is Westpac's wealth management division. This covers the asset accumulation, investment management and life insurance operations in Australia and New Zealand. Wealth Management designs, manufactures and services financial products to allow customers to create, manage and protect their wealth. It also includes managed investments, life insurance, superannuation and discount broking. There is also custody and settlement services to institutional customers and fund managers.

Westpac Institutional Bank (WIB) This business offers financial services to the corporate and institutional customer base, helping and advising in the management of cash, funding, capital and market risk for enterprises and institutions in Australia and New Zealand.

Westpac New Zealand In 1861 the Bank of New South Wales opened seven branches in New Zealand. Some of the old buildings still stand, including one in Oamaru and another in Tokomaru Bay.

Today this unit offers a whole range of consumer and corporate services to clients throughout New Zealand. It is the dominant provider of banking services to small to medium business, corporate and institutional organisations, and is the banker of the Politics of New Zealand . Currently Westpac is the second largest bank in New Zealand, after the merger of ANZ and National Bank, with around 1.5 million customers, 3,000 shareholders and 196 branches nationwide.

On September 29, 2006 Westpac was forced to pay NZ$5.1 million by the New Zealand Commerce Commission over hidden foreign transaction fees (most of the fine is reimbursement to affected customers). All other banks operating in New Zealand have either already been fined or are awaiting a court case.

Naming Rights

Westpac Arena in Christchurch,
St. James Theatre (Wellington) in Wellington,
Westpac Stadium in Wellington and,
Westpac Park in Hamilton, New Zealand (naming rights have now expired).

Business & Technology Solutions & Services (BTSS) BTSS is Westpac's technology and services arm. It incorporates Westpac's internal IT business units, transformation teams, the bank's operations centres and other support services.

Other Business Units The three remaining business units are Group Finance, People & Performance (Westpac's name for Human Resources), and Group Risk.

ATM Alliance Westpac is a member of the Global ATM Alliance, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their Automated teller machine card or check card at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance with no fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are Barclays (United Kingdom), Bank of America (United States), BNP Paribas (France), China Construction Bank (China), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Santander Serfin (Mexico) and Scotiabank (Canada). "Five big banks form Global ATM Alliance", ATMmarketplace.com. January 9, 2002. Accessed June 22, 2007.

Westpac Migrant Banking This unit of both the Australian and New Zealand Bank offers banking facilities to those migrating to either New Zealand or Australia. Bank accounts for migrants can be opened before people arrive in the country using their easy account opening process. Credit cards and mortgages can even be approved before arrival. Westpac Migrant Banking does have a representative office in London where accounts can be arranged, although the process allows the process to be done remotely from any country.

Pacific Banking Westpac commenced operations in Fiji in 1901 and Papua New Guinea in 1910. Westpac now operates in seven south Pacific nations. This unit is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and offers a wide range of financial service, including electronic banking (via online banking, ATMs and EFTPOS), deposit, loan, transaction accounts and international trade facilities to personal and business customers through a vast network of branches.

Westpac Fiji Westpac Fiji is Westpac's Fiji operation. It is one of the largest banks in the country with a 40% market share.

Offshoring On 14 September 2007 Westpac has announced to employees at the Concord Operational Centre that they have entered a contract to send their jobs to India.25 jobs were be immediately lost under a contract signed with Genpact, an Indian based outsourcing provider, potentially along with sensitive customer data.http://www.fsunion.org.au/news/public/1189743287_29761.html

History In 1817, the Bank of New South Wales was founded in Sydney as the first bank in Australia. Edward Smith Hall was the first cashier and secretary. Throughout the 19th and early 20th century, the Bank opened branches throughout Oceania, at Moreton Bay (Brisbane) in 1850, then in Victoria (Australia) (1851), New Zealand (1861), South Australia (1877), Western Australia (1883), Fiji (1901), Papua New Guinea (1910) and Tasmania (1910).

1927: BNSW acquired the Western Australian Bank.
1931: It acquired the Australian Bank of Commerce, which had branches in both New South Wales and Queensland.
1942: BNSW suspended operations in Papua New Guinea as the Japanese Army captured many of the towns in which it had branches and agencies, and bombed Port Moresby. It resumed operations in 1946.
1970: It established a branch on Tarawa Atoll in Kiribati (ex-Gilbert Islands), which also took over the government savings bank.
1971: It established a branch in the New Hebrides. The next year HSBC and Commercial Bank of Australia (see below) also established branches.
1974: The Bank of New Zealand (20%), Westpac (20%), Bank of Hawaii (20%), and the Government of Tonga (40%) established The Bank of Tonga as a joint venture.
1975: It incorporated its local business in Papua New Guinea as Bank of New South Wales(PNG).
1977: BNSW formed a joint venture in Samoa with Bank of Hawaii, Pacific Commercial Bank, by buying into Pacific Savings and Loan Company (est. 1969), in which Bank of Hawaii had had an ownership interest since 1971.
1982: BNSW merged with the Commercial Bank of Australia to form Westpac Banking Corporation.
1984: The original agreement between BNSW and the government in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands expired and Westpac and the government of Kiribati formed Bank of Kiribati as a 51%-49% joint venture. Bank of Kiribati also fulfilled the functions of a reserve or central bank.
1985: Westpac replaced Barclays Bank in the National Bank of Tuvalu (est. 1981) in Tuvalu (ex-Ellice Islands), taking 40% of the shares as well as a 10-year management contract.
1988: Westpac acquired the European Pacific Banking Corporation in the Cook Islands and a HSBC subsidiary, the Solomon Islands Banking Corporation, which HSBC had established as a branch in 1973. Westpac also acquired HSBC's operations in Fiji and the New Hebrides, and established a branch in Niue that is the only bank in that country. (HSBC had established its branch in Fiji only some 18 months earlier.
1990: Bank of New Zealand sold half its shares in Bank of Tonga to Westpac and half to Bank of Hawaii, giving each of them 30%. Westpac bought Banque Indosuez's operations in New Caledonia and Tahiti. (Banque de l'Indochine, which later merged into Banque Indosuez, had established itself in New Caledonia in 1888 and in Papeete, Tahiti in 1905. In both places Indochine functioned as the bank of issue until 1966-7.)
1992: Westpac recorded a 1.6 billion dollar loss, which at the time, was the largest loss for an Australian corporation.
1995: Westpac sold its shares in National Bank of Tuvalu to the government, which now wholly-owns the bank.
1995: Westpac merged with Challenge Bank in Western Australia
1996: Westpac Holdings NZ bought TrustBanks, a chain of regional banks owned by Community Trusts, for NZD1.2 billion to form NZ largest bank WestpacTrust. The bank had promised to keep the funding to Community Trusts flowing and to keep "Trust" in its name. However, Community Trust funding has slowed to a trickle, and in 2002 the bank quietly changed its name to Westpac. The merger of Westpac and Trustbank also saw the closure of many branches around New Zealand. In towns and cities where both Westpac and Trustbank existed branches were merged into a single branch, also many branches in rural areas and outer suburbs were closed down.
1997: Westpac acquired Bank of Melbourne in Victoria (Australia), paying an estimated price in excess of A$1.4b. Although Westpac retained the rights to the Bank of Melbourne name and logos, as of 2006 the brand has disappeared altogether.
1998: Westpac sold its operations in New Caledonia and Tahiti to Société Générale, which merged them with Société Générale Calédonienne de Banque (est. 1971) and Banque de Polynésie (est. 1973), respectively.
2001: The government of Kiribati sought to reduce Westpac's share in Bank of Kiribati from 51 to 49%, leading Westpac to sell its shares back to the government. Bank of Hawaii sold its interest in Pacific Commercial Bank (42.7%) to Westpac, which held an equal portion. Westpac offered Samoan investors, who held the remaining shares, the same price it had paid Bank of Hawaii. Westpac now owns 93.5% of Westpac Bank Samoa and Samoan companies and individuals own 6.5%. In Tonga, Bank of Hawaii sold its shares in Bank of Tonga to Westpac, giving Westpac 60% ownership of the bank.
2004: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand required Westpac to incorporate its NZ branches network. Westpac sold its branch in Niue to Bank of South Pacific.