Wanting to be part of the community, interact with the community and having a long-term future within the community.

It was also about presenting an alternative to institutions that seek a greater bottom line result at the expense of the consumer.

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At the heart of Robert Johanson’s testimony was the fact that customer confidence – the kind which leads people to bank with the Bendigo on multiple levels – remains central to its long-term strategy.

It was encompassed in the short and long-term incentives paid to its executive team (far less than rivals) and the profit-sharing pool distributed between all levels of staff when times are good (and none when times are bad). 

Customer care was everywhere. Everybody at the bank, from Managing Director Marnie Baker down, was expected to put the customer first in their decision making. The pay and bonus structure dissuaded people from business decisions that might line their own pockets but failed to help the customer or the viability of the bank.

Building relationships with customers that brought long-term prosperity for the business was the goal. For, Mr Johanson said, the two went hand in hand. 

But it was obvious the Bendigo’s way of doing business was not the way of many in the banking industry, those pursuing the holy grail of bigger profits, faster with huge personal rewards as a result.

Mr Johanson said the industry would let Bendigo be “unique”, but not too different. When pressured under questioniong about the quality of  staff hiring –  given its lower short-term bonus structure –  he insisted they attracted the right people, those whose interests aligned with the bank’s. If the customer is king, it’s a sound strategy.

The Royal Commission evidence spelled out that the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank was building a future as a continuing point of difference to the Big Four. A truly community bank. 

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