Westpac set to wield the axe on costs to reverse lost decade in retail banking
Head of retail banking Carolyn McCann has conceded the division’s cost base is too high relative to its peers, as she unveiled her new strategy.
Westpac head of retail bank Carolyn McCann has accepted the bank will need to take significant costs out of the bank if it is to reverse a lost decade and achieve its long-wasted potential.
Laying out her strategy to fire up the consumer bank on Thursday, McCann accepted Westpac returns had disappointed for years but argued under her boss Anthony Miller the bank was turning it around.
“We have underperformed our peers and our own potential in the past 10 years,” McCann told analysts in Sydney, describing Westpac as “a fantastic franchise with significant unrealised potential.”
The admission was prompted by Barrenjoey analyst Jonathan Mott who pointed out Westpac was spending about $1,300 per customer, well ahead of the $700 spent by its larger rival the Commonwealth Bank.
