They may have recently changed their name but there’s one thing that hasn’t changed and that’s the Regional Australia Bank’s continued support for the Cobar community.
Last week the local branch handed out $24,522.51 to 36 local groups through its Community Partnership Program.
Regional Australia Bank’s CEO Kevin Dupé, said the Community Partnership Program awards event presented them with a great opportunity to also celebrate the launch of their new brand.
“The program reinforces just some of the ways we assist our customers and their communities,” Mr Dupé said.
“The program continues to grow at over 30 per cent each year as more and more people get on board.”
Over the past five years the bank has contributed over $1.5 million dollars to deserving community groups.
At a function at the Cobar Services Club last Tuesday night Regional Australia Bank awarded $24,522.51 to the Cobar community with Cobar Preschool, Cobar Junior Rugby League, Kubby House Childcare Centre, Cobar Senior Rugby League and Cobar Memorial Services & Bowling Club among the 36 groups to receive a donation.
Kelly Fairbank, Cobar Branch Manager at Regional Australia Bank said they were passionate about giving back to the community.
“We are also equally committed to empowering our customers to support local community groups they feel strongly about.
“That’s why we established the Community Partnership Program eight years ago,” Ms Fairbank said.
The program that started out as one single account, has now been made available to all customers so that everyone can take part in what the bank believes is a ‘revolution in community banking’.
The Community Partnership Program works by customers opening a transaction account and selecting which group they would like to support.
Regional Australia Bank then calculates the average annual balance of all supporter’s accounts and donates one per cent of the total to the cause on the customers’ behalf, all without costing them a cent.
“Because this program is an extension of our Community Support Program it comes at no cost to our customers and it authenticates our promise to operate in the best interests of our customers and communities,” Mr Dupe said.
“Our customer owned structure means our customers not only benefit from fairer fees, competitive interest rates and the expertise from local specialists, they know they’re benefiting Regional Australia by helping it to prosper and thrive” he said.
In addition to the Community Partnership Program, Regional Australia Bank also gives 5% of its net profits back to our community in sponsorships to local clubs, community organisations as well as contributing to regional infrastructure projects.
“We’re immensely proud of our contribution to our community,” said Kelly.
“After all, it’s the opportunity to make a difference, to build better communities and to create better places to live that drives so many of us – so it’s fitting that our customers, who are also members of our communities, lead the way in initiatives like this one” she added.
Regional Australia Bank is pleased to be able to continue the Community Support Program so that it can also continue to deliver social and environmental returns to regional communities at every opportunity.
