On Thursday 21 September 1972, 48 Members of the Victoria Teachers Union (VTU) – with a shared belief in the philosophy of mutuality that underpins the credit union movement – sign up at the formation meeting of the VTU Credit Union.
They each purchase five shares at $2 each, giving the Credit Union an initial paid-up capital of $480. These precious funds are stored in a shoe box.
The VTU Credit Union begins operating from the basement of the VTU at Whitehall, 20 Bank Place, Melbourne. An account is opened at ANZ, 469 Little Collins Street and our ‘business’ begins.
Our founding board Members are Maureen O’Bree, Carl Ridgeway, Bart Dinsmore, Alex Rosenberg, Mervyn Vogt, Paul Booth, and Peter Leonard-Kanevsky, who was elected as our inaugural Chair.
Having separated from her husband, she needs accommodation for herself and two children. With no one else would lend it to her, the Teacher’s Champion delivers on its promise.
VTU Credit Union operated out of the basement of the VTU at Whitehall, 20 Bank Place, Melbourne. Account was opened at ANZ, 469 Little Collins Street and the 'business' began.
The VTU Credit Union begins offering insurance services to our Members.
We also up stumps and move to a bigger, purpose-built space at 335 Camberwell Road, Hawthorn East.
Alan Dash, one of our foundation Members, is appointed to the Board.
Our newsletter, The Slate, is launched (a nod to those old-school slate boards used in classrooms, before paper and ink were readily available). We love sharing news with our Members and still do.
The Slate – now in a 4-page format – calls for Members to volunteer as local school representatives. Their mission? To promote the credit union in their own schools by handing out flyers and sharing their experiences with their colleagues.
Over three hundred school representatives join the cause, as the VTU Credit Union emerges as one of the fastest growing credit unions in Australia.
We make their mission easier by ‘widening the bond’ (bond being the traditional term used by credit unions to define eligible Membership). From an exclusive right to Members of the VTU and their families, we can now open our arms to any Victorian teacher, regardless of union affiliation. This sees a significant increase in our Membership.
This proves a huge success and Memberships grow in leaps and bounds.
We introduce our own in-house technology system – the AWA Reality Royale (Model 150). This gives Members immediate access to their accounts, faster transaction processing, and live payroll deductions (which were previously done overnight).
The revolutionary Redicash withdrawal service is introduced, giving our Members a new level of convenience. It helps break the Big Bank monopoly on the use of Bankcard – giving credit union Members the ability to withdraw from any bank in Australia.
Outgrowing our existing office, we are fortunate to find an even bigger space just up the road – ‘The Beef Ranch’ at 277 Camberwell Road, Hawthorn East.
As a value-added service, we roll out Apple Travel. This quickly becomes a popular way from Members to plan and book their holidays. It also helps attract new Members – especially those in the teaching profession.
Our Moonee Ponds branch opens in August, with Stephen Molan at the helm. Other founding staff include Trevor Hosking, Gail Miller, Christine Dickson, Maree Fitzgerald, Kaylene Doig, Barbara McCarthy and Wend Martin.
Travel scholarships for teachers are launched – a great incentive to support our Members’ career aspirations. Frank Ryan, a teacher at the Melbourne Zoo Education Centre, is the inaugural winner. His scholarship takes him to the US and the UK to study environmental education.
Visa Card, the world’s most popular credit card, is introduced to Members, who can also use it as a debit card. They can now make cashless purchases at over 3.6 million merchants worldwide. They can also make cash withdrawals at 135,000 locations nationally.
We begin donating to State Schools’ Relief. From day one, VTU Credit Union has fostered a culture of social responsibility and philanthropy, expressed mainly through donations and sponsorships in the education sector. State Schools' Relief becomes our first major ongoing philanthropic partnership. Our first joint initiative is to assist disadvantaged students with uniforms and other necessities for their education.
Apple Co-operative Housing Society opens its doors. With great pride, our first home loan is approved for Shane and Rena Cotter and their young family in Donvale, Vic.
Hot on its heels, Apple Insurance Agency opens for business – offering another great support service to our Members.
We launch our Connector Package for new and current Members. This package contained three main components: a plastic access card, a cheque book, and a much greater availability of housing loan funds.
We approve our 500th home loan application – for Jennepher Hooper, a teacher from Rosanna Primary School. By this stage, we have provided over $30 million in home loans to our Members.
Thankfully, VTU Credit Union has planned ahead. We face the storm with a strong balance sheet and more than adequate reserves. For our Members – some of whom are doing it pretty tough – we continue to deliver free banking facilities and an unrivalled package of professional ancillary services.
A major milestone for us – with over 45,000 Members. At this juncture, we also boast $163 million in deposits and $118 million in loans.
Our Teaching Initiatives Program (TIP) is launched. Since then, the TIP has provided over $780,000 in funding to over 600 schools and preschools, as we continue to support our Members and our community.
Wow, what a community we’ve grown!
By 1995, state school teaching unions had amalgamated into the Victorian Branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU). This makes the ‘VTU’ part of our name redundant. On 1 April, we rebadge to the Victoria Teachers Credit Union (VTCU).
Apple Travel launches its website.
We open our first call centre, as part of our ongoing quest for new ways to serve and support our Members.
The VTCU website is launched as we adopt and adapt to the digital world. At launch, every department assigns a ‘Member Champion’ to support and resolve website issues for staff and Members.
VTCU gets behind Better Buddies – an initiative of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. Named in memory of two young victims of the Port Arthur tragedy, the foundation is a national charity that keeps children safe from violence.
VTCU changes its name to Victoria Teachers Mutual Bank. Firstly, this acknowledges how we have become much more than just a credit union to our Members. Secondly, it shows our competitiveness against the big banks. 80% of Members vote in favour of the new name. As always, the co-operative spirit and customer-owned banking model remains the cornerstone of the bank.
Victoria Teachers Mutual Bank moves to 117 Camberwell Rd, Hawthorn East.
We pop the champagne to celebrate both our 40th anniversary and our new offices.
Victoria Teachers Mutual Bank has always put a strong emphasis on supporting and growing its staff. A new initiative launched in 2016 to develop emerging leaders was introduced. The Leaders Emerging and Progressing (LEAP) program (now named, Learning Emerging and Progressing) contains training sessions each month targeted at giving staff the skills to lead in their current role, and be prepared for the future.
We arrive at this new branding as the result of long consideration and careful consultation with our Members. Our name may have changed, but our DNA and commitment to serve those who serve and build community remains stronger than ever.
We are thrilled to launch the Bank First Community Fund. The Fund unites our many social responsibility activities under one banner. This allows us to continue to support the ‘people who care’ in our communities more efficiently and effectively.
Through the Bank First Community Fund, we throw our support behind The One Box. This wonderful initiative provides Australian families in need with a free weekly box full of fresh fruit, vegies, milk and bread over the full school year. So far, we have donated 1853 boxes, equating to weekly groceries for 46 families for an entire year.
We partner with Pinchapoo, the inspirational group founded upon the ingenious idea, “What if we got people to ‘pinch’ hotel toiletries so we can then pass them on to those struggling to afford basic hygiene items?” This grows into a movement that receives wonderful, wide-ranging support from individuals and businesses. To date, we have donated over 10,000 hygiene packs
Between 2018-2021, in partnership with State Schools’ Relief and Gandel Philanthropy, we donate more than 3,000 iPads to enable non-verbal students to communicate with family, friends and teachers.
