WESTPAC’S NEW CARDS SERVICE BRINGS BANKING TO REMOTE PACIFIC COMMUNITIES

Westpac Pacific has boosted its penetration in the Pacific Islands by launching a new instant-issue cards service, which enables customers based away from Westpac branches to sign up for a bank account and receive their handycards immediately.

Now live in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, the service sees Westpac’s Everywhere Banking teams travel to rural and remote communities, many of which lack access to financial services. Westpac’s teams then roll out the instant-issue service, which allows new customers to open accounts and receive their pins and cards simultaneously.

According to Westpac Pacific General Manager Greg Pawson, this fast, paperless process of opening new accounts truly makes banking easier for communities in the Pacific.

“Our new instant-issue cards service eliminates the need for locals to spend time and money venturing long distances twice to complete the account-opening process at a Westpac branch,” he says.

The service is aimed at the many Islanders who lack access to banking and for whom travelling into a branch is a lengthy and costly task. “It’s estimated that in some countries, less than 10% of people have access to financial services,” says Greg. “It follows that we’d like to reach as many people with this cards service as we can.”

The instant-issue cards service is complemented by Westpac’s comprehensive and free financial education courses, which teach communities to responsibly budget and save to reach their financial goals.

The story does not end there, however. As a large portion of customers who benefit from our instant-issue cards service are based far away from major centres, it’s critical that the ability to conduct banking transactions anytime is brought to their doorstep.

That’s where In-store Banking comes in – a service that allows customers to check balances, pay bills, withdraw, deposit and transfer funds from Westpac accounts, from a Westpac EFTPOS machine at a local merchant.

“In-store Banking means those living away from a Westpac branch can still do their banking easily and efficiently, simply by banking where they shop,” Greg says. “We’ve opened more than 50 in-stores already, and we plan to launch several more by 2014.

“Together, our instant-issue cards and In-store Banking initiatives fulfil what Everywhere Banking is all about,” Greg adds. “We’re all about bringing banking outside bank branches in the Pacific and reaching out to people who want and need to bank anywhere, anytime.”