Abacus 09 Convention opened by Assistant Treasurer Nick Sherry
09 November 2009
The Abacus 09 Convention was officially opened today by the Assistant Treasurer Nick Sherry, in front of more than 1,000 delegates from credit unions, mutual building societies and friendly societies at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.
Abacus 09 is the premier annual convention for the mutual financial services industry of Australia.
The focus for this year's convention is "Building Our Advantage", looking at how credit unions, building societies and friendly societies can continue to build on their competitive advantage of delivering excellent products and outstanding service for Australian consumers.
Key speakers at the Abacus 09 Convention include APRA chairman John Laker, futurist Phil Ruthven, Sunrise host David Koch, and international human rights lawyer Michael Hourigan.
"Consumers are worried about losing choice in the financial services market - this is a great opportunity for us to show Australians there are alternatives to the big banks," said Abacus CEO Louise Petschler.
"More than 4.3 million Australians are already members of a credit union or mutual building society. Mutual financial institutions offer Australians a better banking deal with outstanding service and market-leading customer satisfaction ratings. Recent independent surveys have shown how consumers can save thousands of dollars by switching from a major bank to a credit union or mutual building society.
"Friendly societies are member-focused organisations that help Australians become financially independent and to plan for life events. Friendly societies provide products and services such as superannuation, educations savings plans, funeral plans and health and travel insurance.
"The evidence continues to stack up. You can get a better deal with a credit union or mutual building society and benefit from their outstanding service and member-focus.
"As mutuals, profits go back to members - not to external shareholders - and while we meet the same high prudential standards as banks, we do it while putting members first," Petschler said.
For more information, please contact:
Pamela Eldridge
Senior Adviser - Media
Abacus - Australian Mutuals
(02) 8299 9024; 0423 843 790
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