Bank of Queensland (Branded BOQ), one of the oldest financial institutions in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, is a retail bank with a network of almost 270 branches, including 152 in Queensland, 52 in New South Wales, 23 in Victoria and 34 in Western Australia. Following the Home Building Society and Pioneer mergers, it now has more than 650,000 customers. The bank's BSB

Bank State Branch

A Bank State Branch identifying code is a six digit numerical code used within Australia that identifies an individual branch of a financial institution...

 code is 124-001.

Branches

Since 2002 the Bank has undertaken a national branch expansion. The Bank's branch model permits individuals to own and operate local branches of the Bank as franchise

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

s, while receiving the backing of Bank of Queensland's product range and support.

History

• 1874: The Brisbane Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society was established as the first permanent building society formed in Queensland.
• 1887: The Society incorporated.
• 1921: The company amalgamated with City and Suburban Building Society.
• 1931: The company amalgamated with Queensland Deposit Bank.
• 1942: The company received a licence to operate as a trading bank. Until this point, what became the Bank of Queensland was a savings bank come building society, not a 'trading bank'.
• 1970: The company changed its name to Bank of Queensland (BOQ) and computerised its operations.
• 1971: The bank became a publicly traded company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
• 1982: The bank incorporated Bank of Queensland Savings Bank as a wholly owned subsidiary.

• 1991: BOQ acquired Stowe Electronic Switching Pty Ltd and renamed it Queensland Electronic Switching Pty Ltd.
• 1999: Bank of Hawaii
  Bank of Hawaii
  The Bank of Hawaii Corporation is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is Hawaii's second oldest bank and its largest locally owned bank in that majority of the voting stockholders reside within the state...
  
   bought 5.8mn shares (approx. 10%) in Bank of Queensland.
• 2001: Bank of Hawaii sold its 6.2mn shares and 5.4mn convertible notes in Bank of Queensland to refocus on its operations in Hawaii.
• 2003: BOQ acquired the equipment financing business of UFJ Bank in Australia and New Zealand. The bank also acquired ATM Solutions, giving it the second largest ATM
  Automated teller machine
  An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
  
   network in Australia.
• 2004: BOQ opened branches in New South Wales
  New South Wales
  New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
  
  , Victoria
  Victoria (Australia)
  Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
  
  , and the Australian Capital Territory
  Australian Capital Territory
  The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
  
  .
• 2005: BOQ acquired the $78 million debtor finance division of ORIX Australia, further strengthening BoQ's position in the debtor finance industry.
• 2006: BOQ acquired Queensland-based Pioneer Permanent Building Society and opened branches in the Northern Territory
  Northern Territory
  The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
  
   and Western Australia
  Western Australia
  Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
  
  .
• 2007: Bank of Queensland merged with Western Australia-based Home Building Society and the Mackay
  Mackay, Queensland
  Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
  
  , Queensland-based Pioneer Permanent Building Society.
• 2010 BOQ purchased St Andrew's Insurance. St Andrew's is an Australian manufacturer of consumer credit insurance products.
• 2010 BOQ acquired the Australian and New Zealand divisions of CIT Group Inc, a leading supplier of vendor finance to small businesses and middle market companies.

Involvement with Storm Financial

As of 2010, it has been found that one of the Townsville branches of the Bank of Queensland was giving loans

Subprime lending

In finance, subprime lending means making loans to people who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule...

 to clients of the collapsed Storm Financial

Storm Financial

Storm Financial Limited was a financial advice company, based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The company was founded by Emmanual Cassimatis and his wife Julie Cassimatis in 2004. It went into administration in January 2009 and was placed in liquidation on 26 March 2009...

.

External links

• Bank of Queensland