New Community Bank^® at Swinburne goes beyond banking

Industry-academic collaboration, as well as university infrastructure and projects, are set to benefit from a community-focused banking model launched by Bendigo Bank at Swinburne’s Hawthorn campus later today.

Profits from Community Bank^® at Swinburne, which officially launched on 6 August, will be invested into the university’s facilities, research and community projects, to support the Swinburne community.

Swinburne’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Linda Kristjanson AO, and Bendigo and Adelaide Group Managing Director, Marnie Baker, will open the on-campus Customer Hub that builds on a successful partnership whereby profits from Community Bank^® at Swinburne will support the Swinburne community in a variety of ways.

Swinburne’s Vice-Chancellor, Linda Kristjanson said: “Our partnership with Bendigo Bank supports Swinburne’s commitment to create social and economic impact within the university and our broader community.”

“It is a partnership that puts people first and presents opportunities to connect our students and our research with real-time experience, innovation and learning.

“Since the partnership launched in February, we have already seen developments and benefits that are being enjoyed throughout our community. I look forward to seeing the many ways that our partnership will flourish in the future.”

Bendigo and Adelaide Group Managing Director, Marnie Baker announced that three 12-month placements to support the learning and development of Swinburne students, and funding grants to help researchers become leaders in their field would also flow from the partnership. In addition, Swinburne staff, students, and alumni will have access to a range of special offers from Bendigo Bank.

“Today marks so much more than the opening of another new Community Bank^® branch. It is essentially a sustainable infrastructure project that will not only make access to banking services far more accessible but will make Swinburne an even better place to work and study while helping provide additional support for the University’s clubs and societies.

“Bendigo Bank and Swinburne have also co-created Australia’s first ever Master of FinTech degree in a field that we know first-hand is changing the face of banking. We’re proud to be at forefront of this revolution and now have the first of our full-time placement students on board with us gaining vital real-world experience.

“Bendigo Bank is focused on investing in community prosperity and helping to build 21st century communities centred on interests and areas of expertise such as education and FinTech innovation. We are pleased to provide students with the opportunity to develop practical skills and to gain real-world experience which they can draw on to accelerate their learning and career development,” Ms Baker concluded.

Natalie Collett, the first of three Swinburne students to do a paid professional placement with Bendigo Bank, and currently undertaking a double Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Media and Communications degree, said: “I am only a little over a month into my internship with Bendigo Bank, but already, it is proving to be an amazing opportunity. I have been offered a number of mentors and I feel sure at the starting point of my career that it will be a very meaningful and memorable learning experience.

“The marketing world in particular is always changing and I'd like to give Bendigo Bank full credit for allowing me to use the knowledge and skills I have acquired up to this date and to put three years of learning at Swinburne into practice at the bank,” Ms Collett concluded.