From introducing drive-in branches and WA's first after-hours cash dispenser (before ATMs), to being the first bank in WA to appoint women to permanent telling positions, and the first bank in Australia to fully implement electronic data processing, we have a long history of being committed to meeting the needs of our customers.
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Our journey
We're proud of where we've come from, just as we're proud of where we're going.
Taking a look back…
1895
We started as the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia – established by the WA Government to service farmers. It was a responsibility we took pride in, as our colleagues slept under the stars, while travelling between properties and traversing the distances of this vast state.
1923
The Agricultural Bank of WA expanded to have eight district offices throughout Western Australia.
1945
What's in a name? Well, that was the question we asked towards the middle of the 20th Century, and we changed our name to The Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia – or, as you might have better known us, the R&I Bank – to better reflect the customers we supported.
1956
Our transition to supporting customers more broadly continued when we became a savings bank, less than three months after the Bank of NSW (now Westpac) and ANZ, and prior to the other big banks.
1985
We hit the national stage, opening our first branch in Sydney.
1994
It became clear by the mid-90s that the customers we were supporting were no longer limited to those in the WA regions and industries, and we became the Bank of Western Australia, trading under the name Bankwest.
2008
Bankwest joined the Commonwealth Bank Group, becoming part of Australia's largest financial services provider.
Today
We proudly support more customers across Australia with a commitment to fulfilling our purpose to improve the financial wellbeing of our customers and communities.
