SPECIALIST rural bank Rabobank plans further growth in Western Australia following the decision to trade under one brand name in future.
Rabobank announced this week that its rural finance division would cease trading as Primary Industry Bank of Australia (PIBA). This means the group’s three divisions – corporate agribusiness, middle-market agri-business and rural finance – will all trade under the Rabobank brand.
The rebranding coincides with the opening of new branches around WA.
The group opened branches in Merredin and Albany earlier this month and plans to open in Bunbury in March.
These are additional to the Geraldton and Esperance branches opened in mid 2001.
State manager rural WA, Crawford Taylor, said Rabobank also planned to widen its product range with the addition of a transactional account later this year.
These changes will provide a competitive boost for Rabobank, which claims to hold a 15 per cent share of WA’s rural banking market – estimated to be worth about $3 billion.
The dropping of the PIBA brand brings to an end a unique chapter in Australian banking history.
The Federal government and a consortium of Australian banks established PIBA in 1978 specifically to provide long-term finance to farmers.
It was purchased by BankWest in 1987 before being sold to the Dutch-based Rabo-bank in 1994.
Under Rabobank’s ownership, PIBA’s product offering was progressively expanded to include equipment finance, de-posits and risk management services.
Mr Taylor said the inclusion of a cheque account and debit card in Rabobank’s product suite would allow it to offer an all-in-one banking facility to its targeted clients.
The AAA-rated Rabobank operates in 33 countries and has been active in Australia since 1990.
Mr Taylor said Rabobank’s unique cooperative structure (it is owned by farmers in the Netherlands) helped it to adopt a long-term planning focus, without facing short-term pressure from sharemarket investors.
p Next week: Special reports on agribusiness and farm finance.
