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Date Published : Thursday, February 07, 2008
One of the largest financial institutions in Australia, Commonwealth Bank is also one of the oldest.
Founded in 1911 by the federal government, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) - to give it its full name - was under government control until 1991, before being fully privatised five years later.
From its Sydney headquarters, the CBA has branched out in a number of ways and into a variety of different countries - with operations in New Zealand, the UK, Indonesia and Fiji.
Apart from the public facing bank - which is the second biggest behind National Australia Bank in the country - the CBA has a number of influential offshoots throughout the financial industry, which customers and non-customers will have heard of.
Commonwealth Securities - known commercially as CommSec - is the investment arm of the business and deals with the Australian AllOrds and ASX stock markets. It is best known to many Australians as the provider of business news on the main commercial TV networks.
Along with CommSec, Commonwealth Insurance (CommInsure), Colonial First State Investments and ASB Bank in New Zealand are CBA's other commercial ventures.
Recently, the CBA has rebranded itself with the slogan "Determined to be different", in a bid to distance itself from its competitors.
CBA's Barbara Chapman said: "The bank has been changing internally to live up to our vision of excelling in customer service and this has been evidenced in the improvements in our customer satisfaction ratings.
"We believe that now is the right time to let our customers know that we are changing."
Australian savings accounts compared and reviewed.
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