25 Essential Leaders in Regional Banking Australia NZ

Last updated: June 2026

Australia's banking sector is one of the most concentrated in the developed world. The Big Four banks together hold approximately 75 percent of total domestic banking assets, and their dominance is so entrenched that most conversations about banking leadership in this country begin and end with the same four names. That concentration is real, but it tells only half the story.

The other half belongs to the customer-owned banking sector, the mutual banks, credit unions, building societies, and regionally focused lenders that serve more than 5.4 million Australians across 51 institutions. As of June 2026, this sector manages approximately $196 billion in assets and accounts for roughly two-thirds of all domestic authorised deposit-taking institutions in Australia. In New Zealand, a small number of locally-owned and regionally focused banks are providing meaningful competitive pressure against the Australian-owned majors. These are not alternative institutions operating at the margins of the financial system. They are a fundamental part of how Australians and New Zealanders actually bank.

The leaders on this list are the people running these institutions right now. They are navigating a wave of sector consolidation unlike anything seen in decades, with mergers reshaping the competitive landscape across every state. They are building digital capabilities and open banking infrastructure. They are championing ethical and values-driven banking. And they are doing it within the distinctive governance structure of the customer-owned model, where members are owners and profit is reinvested rather than distributed to shareholders.

This list covers 25 of the most influential leaders across the regional and customer-owned banking sector in Australia and New Zealand in 2026. Each person was verified against primary sources within the last 12 months. Rather than recycling the same handful of names that appear on every banking leadership roundup, this directory surfaces the leaders genuinely shaping how this sector thinks and operates right now.

Jonno White is the author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000+ copies sold) and a Certified Working Genius Facilitator who works with leadership teams in banking, financial services, and beyond. If you are looking to strengthen the communication, alignment, and team dynamics of your banking leadership team, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Why the Customer-Owned Banking Sector Matters

The customer-owned banking model exists to serve members rather than maximise returns for external shareholders. Profits are reinvested back into better rates, lower fees, and improved services for the people who bank with these institutions. According to Roy Morgan research, customer-owned banks consistently record the highest customer satisfaction scores of any banking category in Australia.

The sector is also one of the fastest-consolidating parts of the Australian financial system. A decade ago, there were approximately 200 mutual banking institutions across Australia. Today there are 51 COBA members. The pace of merger activity accelerated significantly in 2024 and 2025, with Bank Australia and Qudos Bank, Heritage Bank and People's Choice forming People First Bank, G&C Mutual Bank and Unity Bank, Auswide Bank and MyState, and Regional Australia Bank and Summerland Bank all completing or progressing mergers. This consolidation is reshaping the sector's competitive landscape and creating larger institutions with greater capacity to invest in technology, compliance, and service.

In New Zealand, the context is different but equally significant. New Zealand's open banking regulations took effect on 1 December 2025, mandating the major Australian-owned banks to launch secure data sharing systems. Kiwibank is now the largest locally-owned bank in New Zealand, serving over one million customers, and has received government approval for a NZ$500 million capital raise to strengthen its competitive position against the Australian-owned majors.

The KPMG Mutuals Industry Review 2025 found that 86 percent of mutual banking leaders identify maintaining profitable and sustainable growth as their top priority, while 75 percent say community involvement remains very important to their organisation. Cost reduction and digital innovation are the two top technology challenges across the sector for the next three years.

Organisations can hire Jonno White to run Working Genius facilitation sessions, leadership communication workshops, and executive team offsites for banking and financial services leadership teams. Email jonno@consultclarity.org or visit consultclarity.org to discuss your team's needs.

How This List Was Compiled

Each leader on this list was selected for a documented, current, and verified contribution to the regional and customer-owned banking sector in Australia and New Zealand. Selection prioritised leaders who are actively engaged in public discourse through LinkedIn, media appearances, conference participation, or industry advocacy, with each person verified against primary sources including their institution's official leadership page, formal appointment announcements, and sector body documentation within the last 12 months.

The list covers leaders from ASX-listed regional banks, major mutual banks, regionally focused building societies that have converted to bank status, New Zealand locally-owned banks, and the peak industry body for the sector. For a broader view of banking thought leadership across Australia and New Zealand, see the directory of 35 Best Thought Leaders in Banking in Australia and New Zealand.

Category One: Leaders Shaping the Sector's Direction

1. Steve Jurkovich

Kiwibank

Steve Jurkovich has led Kiwibank since 2018, making him one of the longest-serving CEOs in the Australasian regional banking sector. Under his leadership, Kiwibank recorded a record NZ$202 million net profit for the 2024 financial year, a 15 percent increase on the prior year, and secured government approval for a NZ$500 million capital raise to fund its expansion as New Zealand's challenger bank of scale. He previously served as Executive General Manager at ASB Bank and Regional Manager at Westpac.

His LinkedIn commentary on New Zealand's open banking rollout is consistently substantive and specifically grounded in operational detail. When Kiwibank became the first New Zealand bank to launch open banking for both retail and business customers in May 2026, Jurkovich had been laying the public groundwork for that milestone for months, making his perspective unusually precise on where open banking is actually heading in New Zealand rather than where it is theoretically supposed to be heading. He holds an Executive MBA from the University of Sydney and an LLB from Otago University.

2. Michael Lawrence

Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA)

Michael Lawrence has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Customer Owned Banking Association since December 2017, making him the most prominent public voice for Australia's mutual banking sector for nearly a decade. Under his tenure, COBA grew its membership to 51 institutions managing approximately $196 billion in assets, while navigating the sector through the post-Royal Commission regulatory environment, the economic disruptions of the pandemic, and an accelerating wave of consolidation. Lawrence also serves as Chair of the World Council of Credit Unions, the global peak body representing over 75,000 credit unions across more than 70 countries.

In March 2026, Lawrence announced plans to retire in October 2026. His public legacy includes consistent, evidence-based advocacy for proportionate regulation and competitive policy settings that allow customer-owned institutions to grow on the same terms as shareholder-owned banks. His departure will represent one of the most significant leadership transitions in the sector in years, and his successor will inherit both a stronger advocacy platform and a higher standard of public visibility than existed at COBA before his tenure.

3. Damien Walsh

Bank Australia

Damien Walsh has served as Managing Director of Bank Australia since 2011, making him the longest-serving CEO of any institution on this list. Bank Australia is a certified B Corporation, a member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, and one of the few Australian banks to have committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2035. The bank completed its merger with Qudos Bank in July 2025, creating a combined institution with more than $17.5 billion in assets and 300,000 members.

His LinkedIn presence is extensive and his posts substantive, covering sustainable finance, the future of purpose-driven banking, and what the Global Alliance for Banking on Values membership means in practice for how the bank allocates capital and evaluates lending decisions. His framing of Bank Australia as a bank that uses money as a force for good reflects a coherent and longstanding strategic philosophy that goes beyond the sustainability reporting that most financial institutions now produce. He is among the most recognised Australian banking leaders internationally within the values-based banking conversation, presenting at global forums on the cooperative finance model.

4. Bernadette Inglis

NGM Group

Bernadette Inglis leads Newcastle Greater Mutual Group as Managing Director and Group CEO, overseeing one of Australia's largest customer-owned financial institutions. NGM Group operates through its two retail brands, Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent, serving more than 635,000 customers with $23.1 billion in total assets. The group recorded approximately $117 million in net profits for the 2025-26 financial year. NGM Group emerged from the merger of Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent in March 2023.

Inglis brings more than 20 years of executive leadership in financial services to the role, including senior positions at Suncorp Group and Westpac before her appointment as CEO of Newcastle Permanent in 2019. Her public commentary consistently emphasises what she describes as the organisation's responsibility to the communities where its customers live and work, and her annual results statements foreground community investment alongside financial performance. The expansion of NGM Group's branch network into Queensland and the delivery of record home loan volumes for first-time buyers are among the defining outcomes of her leadership of the combined entity.

5. Paul Lewis

Great Southern Bank

Paul Lewis has been Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Great Southern Bank since November 2019, leading one of Australia's largest customer-owned banks through a period of sustained growth and strategic development. For the half-year ending December 2025, Great Southern Bank recorded net profits of $27 million, up from $17.2 million in the same period the prior year, while supporting more than 3,100 first home buyers in that half, more than three times its natural market share. The bank has been recognised as a Gallup Exceptional Workplace for the third consecutive year in 2026.

Lewis is vocal on LinkedIn about the purpose of customer-owned banking as a genuine alternative to the shareholder model, and his framing of Great Southern Bank as a national competitor to the majors is consistent and deliberate. His navigation of the potential merger with P&N Group, and the eventual decision not to proceed following due diligence, reflected a clear-eyed view of the strategic conditions required for consolidation to genuinely benefit members. He holds a Bachelor of Arts, an MBA, and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

6. Richard Fennell

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank

Richard Fennell became Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank in August 2024, succeeding Marnie Baker after 35 years with the organisation. He joined the bank in 2007 and served as Chief Financial Officer from 2009 to 2018 before leading the Consumer Banking Division, which includes the bank's network of more than 300 community-owned branches across Australia. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank holds approximately $65 billion in total assets.

His posts on LinkedIn on RBA rate decisions and economic conditions reflect his background as a finance professional and are analytical and specific. He has been clear and direct in positioning Bendigo and Adelaide Bank as what he called "a unique institution that plays an important role in providing Australian banking consumers with a genuine and compelling alternative to the majors" at the time of his appointment. His depth of experience across the bank's retail and community banking network, combined with his financial expertise, gives his perspective on customer-owned banking unusual practical breadth.

Category Two: The Architects of Australia's Mutual Banking Sector

7. Darlene Mattiske-Wood

Australian Military Bank

Darlene Mattiske-Wood has been Chief Executive Officer of Australian Military Bank since March 2020, leading the banking institution dedicated to serving Australian Defence Force personnel and their families since 1959. She brings more than 25 years of strategic and executive leadership experience to the role, 20 of those years at the CEO or Deputy CEO level, including her previous position as Deputy Chief Executive at People's Choice Credit Union. She is also a director of the Customer Owned Banking Association board.

Her leadership has been recognised through a Telstra Business Women's Award and two Australian Human Resource Institute awards for People Leadership and People Strategy. Her public engagement reflects the dual focus of her institution: the unique financial needs of the Australian Defence community and the broader mutual banking values of member-first service. She completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University and is certified in Human Centred Design, and her approach to executive leadership combines operational rigour with a deliberate commitment to people-centred organisational culture.

8. David Marshall

Beyond Bank Australia

David Marshall joined Beyond Bank Australia as Chief Executive Officer in March 2025, bringing more than 35 years of Australian banking experience to one of the sector's most prominent mutual institutions. He previously served as CEO of Defence Bank and Hume Bank, and held senior executive roles at Commonwealth Bank and Westpac before joining Beyond Bank. His appointment to the COBA Board in July 2025 quickly established him as one of the sector's most active governance voices. Beyond Bank serves members across South Australia and nationally, with a stated commitment to ethical banking and the cooperative model.

Marshall joined Beyond Bank during a period of significant transition following leadership instability and a collapsed merger proposal with P&N Bank. His prior track record of leading customer-focused mutual institutions through business cycles and strategic resets is the quality the board identified when making the appointment. He studied at Lincoln College (Canterbury University), Wharton Business School, and London Business School. His positioning of Beyond Bank's mutual structure as a genuine source of competitive advantage rather than a historical legacy designation marks a deliberate shift in how the bank presents itself publicly.

9. Peter Lock

People First Bank

Peter Lock is Chief Executive Officer of People First Bank, the mutual bank formed from the merger of People's Choice Credit Union and Heritage Bank. People First Bank is among Australia's largest customer-owned banks, with branches across South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria and a national broker presence. Lock led the combined organisation through what he described as "successfully navigating the most crucial period post-merger" in the bank's first half-year results.

His public commentary through the bank's LinkedIn presence and CEO messages consistently emphasises the people-centric philosophy that the brand name was designed to embody. The bank's community partnerships, including its AFL Coaches Partnership with the Western Bulldogs and the naming rights agreement for People First Stadium on the Gold Coast, reflect a community engagement strategy deliberately aligned with the bank's brand positioning. Lock's leadership of the post-merger integration while maintaining the distinctive identities of both the Heritage Bank and People's Choice brands is the defining challenge of his tenure.

10. Anthony Hughes

Teachers Mutual Bank Limited

Anthony Hughes is Chief Executive Officer of Teachers Mutual Bank Limited, one of Australia's largest B Corp-certified mutual banks and a bank whose purpose is defined by its service to the education community. Teachers Mutual Bank serves teachers and education workers across New South Wales and nationally, and holds its B Corp certification as a mark of its commitment to using banking as a force for social good. Hughes brings more than 20 years of senior financial services leadership to the role, including experience as CFO, Executive Director, and across product, transformation, strategy, and customer engagement.

He also serves on the COBA Board, giving him a direct line into the sector's peak advocacy and governance conversations. Teachers Mutual Bank's identity is unusually coherent for a bank of its size: the institution is clear that its purpose is to serve the education community, and that specificity of mission distinguishes its public positioning from the more generic community-bank framing that many mutual institutions rely on. His leadership of the bank through the period of sector-wide digital transformation, while maintaining the trust and loyalty of a membership defined by professional identity rather than geography, is the strategic challenge at the core of his tenure.

11. Rosanna Argus

Unity Bank

Rosanna Argus re-assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of Unity Bank in January 2026, following the completion of the merger between G&C Mutual Bank and Unity Bank in July 2025. She had previously been CEO of G&C Mutual Bank for four years leading up to the merger. Argus has spent more than 30 years working in the finance industry across a range of roles with customer-owned financial institutions, beginning her career at St George Building Society and working across frontline operations, customer service, lending, marketing, and human resource roles.

Her deep institutional knowledge of the mutual sector, combined with the direct experience of leading an organisation through a major merger while also managing the integration of two distinct corporate cultures, gives her perspective on customer-owned banking genuine operational weight. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Secretaries Australia and holds an MBA and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance. Her re-assumption of the CEO role in the merged Unity Bank reflects the board's confidence that continuity of leadership is the right approach during the post-merger integration period.

12. Todd Roberts

Credit Union SA

Todd Roberts has been Chief Executive Officer of Credit Union SA since June 2020, bringing to the role nearly 12 years of senior executive experience at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and more than 25 years across finance and professional services in Australia and the United Kingdom. Credit Union SA is South Australia's largest credit union, serving members with a full range of banking and financial services and operating with the mutual model's defining focus on member outcomes over shareholder returns.

Roberts holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accountancy from the University of South Australia and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, FINSIA, and the Governor's Leadership Program. He also chairs Scotch College in South Australia and the Leaders Institute of South Australia, giving him a community leadership footprint that extends well beyond the banking sector. His commitment to what he describes as a performance-driven team culture dedicated to outstanding results for members has defined his public positioning as a CEO since his appointment.

13. Mark Worthington

Australian Mutual Bank

Mark Worthington is Chief Executive Officer of Australian Mutual Bank, a Sydney-based mutual institution with more than 20 years of experience in senior management roles within the credit union and mutual banking sector. Australian Mutual Bank holds more than $7 billion in assets, serving members across New South Wales and nationally. Worthington holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Business Administration and is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Worthington has also served as a technical advisor on credit union development in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, and Tuvalu, and has been an international presenter at Asian Confederation Forums, Credit Union Development Education courses, and the Oceania Confederation of Credit Union Leagues. That international engagement with the cooperative finance movement sets a perspective apart from most Australian mutual bank CEOs, who typically focus on domestic regulatory and competitive dynamics. Worthington also serves as a director of TransAction Solutions, a managed services company providing platform and infrastructure hosting services to over 50 financial services clients including four mutual banks, giving direct insight into the technology infrastructure challenges facing the sector at a systems level.

Category Three: Regional Banking Leaders Driving Transformation

14. Rod Finch

Bank of Queensland

Rod Finch was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Bank of Queensland Group on 1 March 2026, succeeding Patrick Allaway at a pivotal stage in the bank's multi-year transformation strategy. Finch previously served as BOQ's Chief Transformation and Operations Officer since 2023 and has more than 20 years of financial services experience across customer, product, strategy, and transformation roles in Australia and the United Kingdom. He previously held senior leadership roles at AMP, including Managing Director of AMP Bank and Managing Director of Wealth Products and Platforms, as well as executive roles at Lloyds Banking Group in the UK and Westpac.

His LinkedIn post on his appointment described his ambition to build on the transformation initiated by his predecessor to improve outcomes for customers, shareholders, and the communities BOQ serves. He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from Monash University and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. BOQ Group operates as one of Australia's most prominent ASX-listed regional banks, with a portfolio that includes Virgin Money Australia and ME Bank alongside its core BOQ brand and the specialist professional banking division BOQ Specialist.

15. Brett Morgan

MyState Limited

Brett Morgan is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MyState Limited, the ASX-listed financial services group that completed its merger with Auswide Bank in February 2025. The combined entity manages a home lending portfolio of $12.7 billion and more than $9.9 billion in customer deposits, serving approximately 272,000 customers through 23 branches, digital banking services, and a national broker network across Australia's eastern seaboard. From December 2025, the combined business became a single ADI when Auswide handed back its banking licence to APRA.

Morgan described the merger as creating a stronger and larger regional bank with a more diverse customer and geographic footprint, and his public positioning of the combined entity as a genuine alternative to the major banks reflects the strategic narrative common to well-run regional banking institutions trying to compete across multiple geographies. The integration is expected to deliver pre-tax cost synergies of $20 to $25 million per annum by the end of FY27. His leadership of the merged organisation through a period of intensive operational integration while maintaining investor confidence in the growth story represents the defining test of his tenure.

16. Andrew Hadley

P&N Bank (P&N Group)

Andrew Hadley is Chief Executive Officer of P&N Bank, which operates as P&N Group along with BCU Bank across Western Australia, New South Wales, and South East Queensland. P&N Group is one of Australia's top ten customer-owned banks and has been through significant strategic activity in 2024 and 2025, including the collapse of a proposed merger with Beyond Bank and the later signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Great Southern Bank to explore a combined entity. Hadley has more than 25 years of financial services experience in strategy, operations, business development, and marketing.

His public commentary on LinkedIn extends well beyond banking performance metrics. He is recognised for his commitment to gender equity leadership, having delivered a CEOs for Gender Equity Summit presentation on the specific, measurable actions P&N Bank took to address the gender pay gap and improve inclusion outcomes. His observation that "you need a relentless focus on unconscious bias" and his willingness to publicly share what happened when he "took his eye off the ball for 12 months" reflects a rare level of specificity and accountability in a space where most leaders speak in generalities.

17. Kerry Boielle

TSB Bank New Zealand

Kerry Boielle has been Chief Executive Officer of TSB Bank since January 2024, leading one of New Zealand's oldest and most respected community-focused banks. TSB is wholly owned by the Toi Foundation, a charitable trust, and its structure means all profits are distributed for community and charitable purposes rather than to external shareholders. The bank delivered a net profit of NZ$57.6 million for the 2025 financial year, declaring NZ$15 million in dividends to its shareholder while maintaining non-performing loans at just 0.5 percent.

Boielle brings more than 17 years of banking experience to the role, including senior positions at ASB Bank and Kiwibank, as well as a period as Director of CareHQ and Chief Sales, Marketing and Customer Experience Officer at Southern Cross Health Society. She holds an Executive MBA (Honours) from the University of Auckland. The proposed merger of TSB with Heartland Bank, announced in 2025, represents the most significant strategic development in her tenure to date and positions TSB as a potential component of a larger New Zealand challenger banking platform.

18. Leanne Lazarus

Heartland Bank New Zealand

Leanne Lazarus has been Chief Executive Officer of Heartland Bank New Zealand since August 2022, leading the New Zealand banking subsidiary of the trans-Tasman Heartland Group Holdings. Heartland Bank New Zealand provides savings and deposit products, online home loans, reverse mortgages, business loans, car loans, and rural finance, with a strategic focus on offering the best or only product in the segments it chooses to serve. Lazarus brings 30 years of global experience in banking and financial services to the role, including 17 years at ANZ Banking Group across Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and 7 years at Westpac.

Her appointment was specifically linked to Heartland Bank's digitalisation strategy, and her background in operations and technology execution within large financial services organisations gave the Heartland Group board confidence that she could drive the ongoing reduction of the bank's cost-to-income ratio through digital efficiency. Her public engagement on LinkedIn covers women's leadership in financial services, New Zealand's open banking developments, and the evolution of banking models that serve specific customer segments better than generalist institutions can.

19. Andrew Dixson

Heartland Group Holdings

Andrew Dixson has been Chief Executive Officer of Heartland Group Holdings since October 2024, succeeding Jeff Greenslade who led the organisation from its formation in 2011. Dixson has been with Heartland since 2010, having been involved in all key parts of its evolution including the initial merger, the New Zealand bank registration, the ASX listing, and the acquisition of Challenger Bank in 2024 that created Heartland Bank Australia, the first New Zealand registered bank to acquire an Australian authorised deposit-taking institution. He previously served as Group Chief Financial Officer and has backgrounds at PricewaterhouseCoopers, ABN Amro, and Credit Suisse.

His first half-year results as Group CEO for the period ending December 2025 showed revenue of NZ$162.5 million, up 55 percent from the same period the prior year, and net income of NZ$48.8 million. Dixson's stated focus for the group is capital allocation and an improved return on equity, with each bank led independently by its own CEO. His background as the architect of Heartland's funding and capital strategy over more than a decade gives him an unusually precise understanding of where the group's financial architecture needs to evolve to sustain its trans-Tasman ambitions.

20. Michelle Winzer

Heartland Bank Australia

Michelle Winzer has been Chief Executive Officer of Heartland Bank Australia since July 2024, leading the Australian banking subsidiary that was created when Heartland Bank New Zealand completed its acquisition of Challenger Bank in April 2024. This acquisition made Heartland Bank the first New Zealand registered bank to own an Australian authorised deposit-taking institution, a historic milestone for trans-Tasman financial services. Heartland Bank Australia brings together the former Challenger Bank, Heartland Finance, Australia's leading reverse mortgage provider, and StockCo Australia, a specialist livestock financier.

Winzer's appointment to lead the new Australian banking entity was driven by the need for an experienced executive who could navigate both the integration of the acquired businesses and the regulatory requirements of operating under APRA supervision. Her leadership of an organisation that combines a digital bank, a reverse mortgage business, and a specialist agricultural finance operation represents one of the more unusual executive portfolios in Australian banking. The combined Australian business brings Heartland's distinctive best-or-only strategy across multiple niche segments where larger banks choose not to compete aggressively.

Category Four: Community and Specialist Banking Leaders

21. David Heine

Regional Australia Bank

David Heine is Chief Executive Officer of Regional Australia Bank, a member-owned institution headquartered in Armidale and serving regional NSW communities from Wagga Wagga to Tenterfield. Regional Australia Bank and Summerland Bank approved a member vote in November 2025 to merge, with the combined entity expected to manage more than $5 billion in assets across 49 locations in regional NSW and southern Queensland from July 2026. Under the merger proposal, Heine will serve as CEO of the combined entity, which will operate under both the Regional Australia Bank and Summerland Bank brands.

His public commentary on the merger reflects a community-first framing consistent with the institution's values: the merger is positioned as strengthening the capacity to serve regional communities and deliver personalised local banking, rather than as a strategic scaling exercise for its own sake. Regional Australia Bank traces its origins to the New England Staff Credit Union at the University of New England in 1969 and has grown through successive mergers while maintaining its focus on regional Australian communities. Heine's leadership of both the merger process and the day-to-day banking operations of a genuine regional institution gives his perspective on community banking a ground-level specificity that distinguishes it from the strategic commentary of larger sector players.

22. Robert Ryan

IMB Bank

Robert Ryan is Chief Executive Officer of IMB Bank, a mutual bank established in 1880 in Wollongong that has grown into a significant NSW institution with more than 210,000 members and assets exceeding $7.2 billion. IMB Bank was voted by Forbes as one of the World's Best Banks in 2020 and was recognised by Canstar as having Australia's Most Satisfied Customers in both the Bank and Mutual Bank categories in 2022. The bank operates across the Illawarra, Sydney, NSW South Coast, the ACT, Melbourne, Newcastle, and the Hunter Region.

Ryan's public engagement reflects the institution's community banking roots and its distinctive geographic identity as a bank built in and for the Illawarra region of NSW. The IMB Bank Community Foundation has provided more than $11.5 million to support over 850 community projects since 1999, and that community investment record is a consistent element of how Ryan publicly positions the bank's purpose. The bank's ongoing partnership with Football South Coast, marking its tenth year of collaboration in 2026, reflects the depth of community embeddedness that characterises well-run regional mutual banks at their best.

23. Mark Williams

The Mutual Bank

Mark Williams has been Chief Executive Officer of The Mutual Bank since 2023, leading a community-focused institution established in 1888 in Maitland in the Hunter region of New South Wales. The Mutual Bank, which operates as Maitland Mutual Limited, delivered a 2025 financial year result that Williams described as successful, with a net profit increase of 16.8 percent compared to the prior year. The bank serves personal and business members across the Hunter region through branches in Maitland, East Maitland, Rutherford, Mayfield, Raymond Terrace, and Dungog.

Williams' public engagement through the bank's LinkedIn presence and appearances as guest speaker at local business events, including the Maitland Business Chamber's February 2024 networking breakfast, reflect a CEO genuinely embedded in the regional community the bank was founded to serve. The Mutual Bank's navigation of sector-wide pressures including digital transformation, rising regulatory costs, and consolidation pressure gives this perspective on sustainable community banking a grounding in the practical realities of running a bank whose entire purpose is to serve a specific regional community.

24. John Williams

Summerland Bank

John Williams has served as Chief Executive Officer of Summerland Bank, headquartered in Lismore in the NSW Northern Rivers region, and led the bank through the approval of a merger with Regional Australia Bank, with members voting in November 2025 with more than 96 percent approval. The combined entity takes effect from 1 July 2026, and John Williams will serve as Deputy CEO Strategy of the new merged organisation. Summerland Bank became a certified B Corporation in 2023, reflecting its commitment to using banking as a force for social good.

His public commentary on the merger framed it as aligned with what he described as the bank's vision to be a "braver kind of bank," committed to community-focused customer-owned banking that can compete more effectively by gaining scale without losing its purpose. Summerland Bank's leadership on sustainability, including its B Corp certification and its deep roots in the NSW Northern Rivers community, which was devastated by floods in 2022, reflects a community banking mission that goes beyond the standard mutual sector commitment to member service. Williams' willingness to pursue merger discussions with a bank that shared Summerland's values rather than simply the largest available partner reflects a leadership philosophy worth noting.

25. Roberto Scenna

Defence Bank

Roberto Scenna became Chief Executive Officer of Defence Bank in July 2024, taking on leadership of Australia's longest-serving defence financial institution, which has been supporting Australian Defence Force personnel and their families since 1959. Defence Bank operates 26 branches across Australia, many at or near Defence bases, and employs approximately 230 people. The bank won the WeMoney Defence Services Bank of the Year Award for the third consecutive year in 2024 and was named among the Best of the Best at the Money Magazine awards in 2025.

His appointment followed the departure of his predecessor to an executive role in banking technology, and Scenna has inherited a bank with a clear and specific community mission, strong award recognition, and a member base with distinctive financial needs related to ADF service, including Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme loans, deployment-related finances, and the particular complexities of military family life. His focus since taking the helm has included expanding access to fee-free cash through a partnership with Armaguard's national ATM network and continuing the bank's investment in a mobile banking platform that has earned strong member recognition.

Notable Voices We Almost Included

The 25 leaders profiled above represent a strong cross-section of the regional and customer-owned banking sector, but the people shaping this sector extend well beyond any single list.

Among those who came close: Marnie Baker led Bendigo and Adelaide Bank for six years before stepping down in August 2024, and her record on digital transformation, community banking, and purpose-driven leadership remains one of the most substantial in the sector's recent history. Jeff Greenslade, who led Heartland Group from its formation in 2011 through to its landmark acquisition of Challenger Bank in 2024 before retiring in September of that year, shaped the trans-Tasman regional banking model as much as any individual leader of the past decade.

The customer-owned banking sector also includes important voices at the governance level, including Elizabeth Crouch as COBA Chair, whose background spanning the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Hearing Australia, and Macquarie University reflects the breadth of experience being brought to sector governance, and Elsbeth Gillanders, whose 35-plus years in mutual banking executive and board roles represent one of the deepest reservoirs of sector knowledge available. Scott Morgan, who led Greater Bank before its merger with Newcastle Permanent and now serves as Deputy CEO of the combined NGM Group, has been a thoughtful voice on the member-ownership model throughout the consolidation period.

Common Mistakes Leaders Make When Working With This Sector

The most common mistake outsiders make about the customer-owned banking sector is treating it as a smaller or less capable version of the major banks. The institutions on this list operate under the same regulatory framework as the Big Four, hold APRA banking licences, and in many cases run more sophisticated community and member engagement programmes than their shareholder-owned counterparts. The operational complexity of running a mutual bank is not lower than running a listed bank of similar size. It is different.

The second common mistake is assuming that the customer-owned model is static or in decline because the number of institutions has reduced from approximately 200 to 51 over the past decade. The consolidation is not a sign of a weakening sector. It is a rational response to rising regulatory costs and technology investment requirements, and the institutions that have emerged from mergers are larger, better capitalised, and better positioned to compete than the institutions they absorbed. Great Southern Bank, NGM Group, People First Bank, Bank Australia, and the emerging combined Regional Australia Bank are all more capable institutions than their pre-merger predecessors.

The third mistake is underestimating the governance complexity. Customer-owned banks are governed by member-elected boards or boards accountable to member-owners rather than external shareholders. That accountability structure creates a different set of leadership challenges to the shareholder-value maximisation mandate that drives decision-making at listed banks. CEOs of mutual banks must explain their decisions to the communities they serve, not just to institutional investors, and that accountability is both a constraint and a source of genuine competitive advantage in building long-term member trust.

The fourth mistake is overlooking the New Zealand dimension. The trans-Tasman banking story is more interesting and more contested than it appears from an Australian vantage point. New Zealand's open banking rollout, Kiwibank's capital raise and competitive positioning, and the proposed merger of Heartland and TSB are reshaping what challenger and community banking looks like across the Tasman in ways that will matter for the Australian sector as well.

Implementation Guide

If you are a banking executive inside a mutual or regional institution, the most valuable move you can make right now is to invest in the people dynamics of your executive team before the next round of strategy meetings. The sector's consolidation wave means that many teams are navigating post-merger integration, new leadership combinations, and strategic uncertainty simultaneously. The organisations that come through consolidation with strong cultures and aligned leadership teams tend to outperform those that focus exclusively on systems and processes integration.

For leadership teams inside mutual banks, the Working Genius framework developed by Patrick Lencioni and The Table Group offers a practical language for diagnosing how your team works together and where communication and accountability gaps tend to emerge. Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator who works with financial services leadership teams to run these sessions. Book Jonno White to facilitate your next leadership offsite at jonno@consultclarity.org. Many organisations find that international travel is far more affordable than expected, and virtual facilitation options are also available.

For thought leaders and consultants engaging with this sector, the most useful resources are the COBA annual conference (held each August), the KPMG Mutuals Industry Review (published annually), and the PwC Value in Motion series on how mutual banks can thrive through disruption. For a broader view of banking leadership beyond the customer-owned sector, the directory of 35 Best Thought Leaders in Banking in Australia and New Zealand covers the full sector including the Big Four and New Zealand majors.

For banking executives looking to understand the global cooperative finance movement, the World Council of Credit Unions and the Global Alliance for Banking on Values both maintain resources on the international development of the values-based banking model. The World Credit Union Conference is being held in Sydney in July 2026, making this an unusually accessible entry point for Australian banking leaders to connect with global cooperative finance thinking.

For organisations seeking to understand what high-quality team culture looks like in financial services, the Great Southern Bank three-year Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award recognition is a useful benchmark. Hire Jonno White to help your leadership team build the communication foundations and team alignment frameworks that produce consistent results. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to discuss your next workshop, keynote, or executive offsite. International travel is often far more affordable than clients expect.

You can also find a directory of 50 essential banking thought leaders on LinkedIn and the 

35 leading thought leaders in the global credit union movement at consultclarity.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the customer-owned banking sector in Australia?

The customer-owned banking sector comprises mutual banks, credit unions, and building societies that are owned and governed by their customer-members rather than external shareholders. As of June 2026, the sector includes 51 COBA member institutions managing approximately $196 billion in assets and serving more than 5.4 million Australians. Unlike the Big Four banks, which distribute profits to shareholders listed on the ASX, customer-owned banks reinvest their profits into better rates, lower fees, and improved services for members.

How does the customer-owned banking model differ from the Big Four?

The fundamental governance difference is ownership structure. Big Four banks are ASX-listed companies whose primary legal obligation runs to shareholders. Customer-owned banks are governed by boards accountable to member-owners, whose votes determine directors. This structure removes the shareholder-value maximisation mandate and replaces it with a member-benefit mandate. The practical result, as consistently shown by Roy Morgan research, is higher customer satisfaction scores across the sector.

What is driving the consolidation in Australian mutual banking?

The primary drivers are the rising cost of regulatory compliance, which requires significant ongoing investment in systems and personnel that smaller institutions struggle to sustain independently, and the technology investment required to remain competitive in digital banking against both the major banks and new fintech challengers. The number of institutions has fallen from approximately 200 a decade ago to 51 today, but the combined assets of the sector have grown significantly as a result. Mergers typically allow combined entities to invest more heavily in technology, product, and community programmes than either institution could alone.

Which customer-owned banks are the largest in Australia?

By total assets as of 2026, the largest customer-owned banking institutions in Australia include Great Southern Bank, NGM Group (operating through Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent), People First Bank, Bank Australia, Beyond Bank, and Teachers Mutual Bank Limited. The sector is continuing to reshape through mergers, with several significant combinations either recently completed or in progress.

How can I connect with leaders in the regional banking sector?

The COBA annual conference, held each August, is the sector's premier gathering. The World Credit Union Conference is being held in Sydney in July 2026. For leadership development support for your banking team, Jonno White facilitates executive offsites, Working Genius workshops, and leadership communication sessions for financial services organisations globally. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to start a conversation.

Final Thoughts

The customer-owned banking sector in Australia and New Zealand is at a genuinely interesting inflection point. The consolidation wave is creating fewer but larger mutual institutions with more capacity to compete. The regulatory environment, particularly through APRA's adoption of a more proportionate three-tier prudential framework, is beginning to level the playing field in ways that allow smaller ADIs to grow more efficiently. And the values-based banking conversation is gaining global attention at exactly the moment when public trust in major financial institutions remains fragile in both countries.

The 25 leaders on this list are not running peripheral institutions. They are running organisations that, collectively, serve millions of Australians and New Zealanders and manage hundreds of billions of dollars in assets. They are making decisions about capital allocation, digital transformation, merger strategy, and community investment that will shape the financial landscape of regional Australia and New Zealand for decades.

What they share, across the diversity of their institutions and contexts, is a commitment to the principle that banking can be designed to serve the people it works with rather than the shareholders it reports to. That principle is not a marketing claim. It is the structural basis on which every institution on this list is organised.

For banking leadership teams seeking to build stronger communication, better alignment, and more effective team dynamics, bring in Jonno White as your next facilitator or keynote speaker. Jonno works with banks, financial services organisations, schools, and nonprofits around the world. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to discuss your team's needs. International travel is often far more affordable than clients expect.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, author of Step Up or Step Out, and leadership consultant who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. His book Step Up or Step Out has sold over 10,000 copies globally, and his podcast The Leadership Conversations has featured 240+ episodes reaching listeners in 150+ countries. Jonno founded The 7 Questions Movement with 6,000+ participating leaders and achieved a 93.75% satisfaction rating for his Working Genius masterclass at the ASBA 2025 National Conference. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Jonno works globally and regularly travels for speaking and facilitation engagements. Organisations consistently find that international travel is far more affordable than expected. To book Jonno for your next keynote, workshop, or facilitation session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Next read: 21 Best Banking Leadership Offsite Facilitators in Australia (2026)

Sources

COBA media release, March 2026 (sector assets and membership figures). KPMG Mutuals Industry Review 2025 (sector priorities data). Roy Morgan research (customer satisfaction rankings). Heartland Group Holdings half-year results, February 2026. Great Southern Bank half-year results, March 2026. NGM Group annual results, October 2025. Bank Australia and Qudos Bank corporate information, 2025. MyState Limited merger announcement, February 2025.