Online bank ING Direct has hired a highly regarded former Westpac banker to lead the Dutch lender's ambitious strategy of winning a larger share in the competitive Australian retail banking business.
Taking on the newly created position, as ING Direct expands its range of retail banking products and services to a growing number of primary bank customers, is Melanie Evans.
Evans joins ING Direct from Westpac Group, where she has spent over 16 years working across Retail Banking, Wealth, Broking, Mortgages, Business Transformation, Marketing and Strategy.
After starting her career with St George Bank, Evans moved to Westpac in the broking arm of the Group, and then spent 9 years at BT Financial Group after its acquisition by Westpac.
Her last role at BT Financial Group was head of Superannuation & Platforms, where she was responsible for a product portfolio spanning Corporate Super, Retail Super and Investments, as well as the BT Wrap Platforms; subsequent to which she moved back to Retail Banking at Westpac and held a variety of leadership roles, including Head of Mortgages.
Challenging The Big Four
«Melanie has been a high achiever in Australian financial services and will be an asset to ING as we grow our business and scale digital capability across products and services,» said Uday Sareen CEO of ING Direct.
ING DIRECT has over $36 billion in retail savings and more than $42 billion in retail mortgages and provides products and services across everyday banking, savings, home loans and superannuation.
With a current market share of around 2.5 to 3 percent, ING Direct is positioning itself as a challenger to the big four namely, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ Bank.
