For The People

CEO Stephen Capello explains how BankVic puts the community first in its dealings.

- Oliver Featherston

 

CEO Stephen Capello has a saying to describe BankVic’s mission: “A healthy community equals a healthy BankVic.” It’s straightforward, to the point and – most importantly – perfectly apt. As a community bank, originally founded as a credit union for Victoria Police in 1974, BankVic has a deep responsibility to the people, and Stephen has spent four years now as CEO ensuring that the organisation fulfils that mission.

BankVic has expanded since its early days, now also serving customers in the health, emergency and public service sectors. It has A$1.8 billion in assets and more than 112,000 members. But it has not forgotten its modest origins and remains committed to the community. As a result of this focus, the bank’s excellence has been recognised – in 2014 it won the Canstar Customer Owned Banking Institution of the Year award, and Stephen himself was recognised in 2017 when he was named Financial Services Executive of the Year at The CEO Magazine’s Executive of the Year Awards. 

“The only competitive advantage we have is the bond or attachment we have with our community,” Stephen says, commenting on BankVic’s success. “So we should be using that knowledge, insight, trust and community engagement to effectively serve our members and develop products and services that are more suited to them than anyone else.”