At a recent meeting, Branch manager, Andrew Gardner, talked about the changes that have taken place in banking, from technology, through to interest loan rates.  I’m sure many of us in the room remember those interest loan rates of 17.5% back in the late 80’s, compared to the 4% which it is at the moment.  On the flip side of that, people with investments were getting similar rates, compared to the minuscule amounts which are on offer today. 

 

The Bendigo Bank story began in Bendigo, in the midst of the goldrush, with the Bendigo Land and Building Society being created in 1858.  This later became The Bendigo Mutual Permanent Land and Building Society, after all borrowers had repaid their loans from the mines.   The Bendigo Mutual Permanent Land and Building Society operated as a single-office mortgage lender and deposit taker for all of its 100-year history, until it ceased in the 1970s.  In the 1990’s with a large number of banks closing in small towns, Community Bank Branches were formed so that people could have local banks, and in turn, these banks chose to give back their profits to local community organisations.