PSIS becomes The Co-Operative Bank – Stuff.co.nz (New Zealand)

PSIS has become New Zealand's first co-operative bank and has gained registration from the Reserve Bank. PSIS will now be called The Co-Operative Bank. The bank is 100...

PSIS has become New Zealand's first co-operative bank and has gained registration from the Reserve Bank. PSIS will now be called The Co-Operative Bank. The bank is 100 per cent owned by customers, and began 83 years ago as the Public Service Investment Society. The new bank has 127,000 existing cust

PSIS has become New Zealand’s first co-operative bank and has gained registration from the Reserve Bank.

PSIS will now be called The Co-Operative Bank.

The bank is 100 per cent owned by customers, and began 83 years ago as the Public Service Investment Society.

The new bank has 127,000 existing customers and 31 branches around the country. It reached $1 billion in deposits in 2009.

The bank’s new marketing catchline is “Bank like you own the place”. It will remain a co-operative.

The change meant the co-op can call itself a bank, which it said would help “clarify” its position in the market. Its status as a bank would draw a distinction between the new bank and finance companies with much higher risk profiles.

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