Australia’s Oldest Bank continues to support the Indian Community Prosper and Grow
The INDIAN TELEGRAPH had the opportunity recently to catch up with Westpac’s National Manager for Migrant and Multicultural Banking, Rebecca Barry, to hear about Westpac’s involvement in the Indian Community. Much of this increasing involvement is a result of Westpac’s vision to be one of the world’s great service companies and helping new Australians is a priority for the Westpac Group.
Westpac has been a long-standing supporter of the Indian community with an almost 200 year history of helping Australians. With 2,000 multilingual banking specialists onshore, Migrant Banking Centres, dedicated Indian branches across Australia, and an offshore branch in Mumbai, Westpac continues to help the Indian community prosper.
Barry says that Bernadette Inglis Group General Manager Westpac Retail & Premium Bank is “passionate about all of our bankers doing everything they can to help our customers. At Westpac we are encouraged to keep asking ‘what more can I do’ for our customers and the organisations that help them settle into Australia.”
This has been so important to Westpac, says Barry, that we have been executing on a new operating model empowering bankers in specialised Migrant branches to spend time listening to community organisations and local businesses about how we can make a difference. Barry says “At Westpac I am reminded that no-one knows your community quite like you do. I am inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of the Westpac Migrant Bankers to deliver service to their customers.”
In particular, at the Westpac Blacktown Branch, Bank Manager Suraj Kapila created the Indian Welcome Centre to help new Indian Migrants and the organisations that support them find new ways to help them settle. “For those who have recently migrated, money can be an enormous source of stress,” says Barry. “The Indian Welcome Centre steps in to help ease the burden and connect customers with other services which may be useful.”
In the last year, Westpac has deepened its relationship with the Indian community in a number of ways, including:
- Sponsorship of the India Australia Business Community Awards (IABCA) which is the brainchild of Ms Sonia Gandhi, Director of Gandhi Creations;
- Celebrating Diwali with Westpac customers across dedicated Indian branches;
- Sponsorship of Paramasala; and
- Celebrating Indian Artist Paresh Maity with a special viewing and welcome by the High Commissioner of India.
This year Westpac is a proud sponsor of the Indian Film Festival (IFF) to be held between 12 August to 20 August 2016. While most of the festival events will be taking place in Melbourne there will be an additional event in Sydney. As part of the Sponsorship of IFF Westpac will be holding exclusive screenings and there are opportunities to go into the draw to win tickets to the Westpac Indian Film Festival Awards night with your favourite Bollywood stars known as the Ultimate Bollywood Film Experience. Full details and terms and conditions are available at westpac.com.au/iff.
