Community bank’s future looks bright

– Dion Teasdale
WANDIN Seville Community Bank has been assisting Yarra Valley communities with all their banking, financial management and investment needs for the past four years.
The branch, which has $62 million funds under management and holds 3000 accounts, is staffed by a dedicated team who have been with the bank since it opened.
The bank’s manager, Tony Forbes, said he and his staff pride themselves on offering a wide range of financial services and delivering high quality customer support.
“We have on-site account managers with extensive banking and financial management experience,” he said.
The bank offers everything from managing individual accounts and investment portfolios, to handling GST and business accounts.
“We can also offer advice on how to restructure your banking to make it more tax effective,” he said. “We encourage people to contact us and make time to come in and discuss their banking options and investment needs. Our staff are readily available and very approachable.”
The bank’s chairman, Kevin Parker, said the bank, its staff and directors, were very proud of their achievements over the past four years and were looking forward to the future.
He said one of the most exciting new developments was that the bank would be installing an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) in the coming month.
“The ATM will be located on the Warburton Highway right in the heart of Wandin’s retail hub and will offer bank customers a safe point to access their money at all hours,” he said.
Mr Forbes said the bank, which has grown by more than $10 million a year since its creation in 2002, was also very proud of its contributions to the local community.
“With profits from the bank we’ve been able to offer sponsorship to three local football clubs, and have helped local schools with the purchase of much needed equipment,” he said.
“We’ve also been able to provide primary schools in the region with $100 education grants for students in grades four and five, and have assisted local preservation groups and projects.”
Mr Forbes said the bank had achieved all the goals it set out to achieve four years ago and was gearing up for the next four.
“We’re very pleased with how things are going. We’re doing much better than our initial projections and the future looks very bright,” he said. “We are at the point now where we are looking to increase sponsorship of local community groups and projects and are implementing a formal application process for a grants program.”
Mr Forbes said the success of the bank would not have been possible without strong the guidance of the board of directors and strong support from the local community.