Some will lament- and some will cheer at the news that the merger between the IMB and the Illawarra Credit Union is - off ! Incompatibility between their chosen IT systems has been cited as the cause.
Some subscribe to the " bigger is safer " credo and in that respect it is certainly true that smaller institutions are vulnerable to takeover by the sharks, but then these monolithic mega institutions are cold, formal and so lacking in empathy that dealing with them is a misery.
Take the banks for an example. Decades ago there were about a dozen banks competing for our business and this striving for customers was the golden age of " personal service ".
Mergers reduced the numbers - and then the governments - both Federal and state - got out of the banking business - and now we are reduced to just four behemoths.
A new golden age started to appear when a plethora of non-bank mortgage houses appeared and began to compete with " the big four " in both rates offered and individual terms. The disaster of the recession of over a year ago saw them starved of funds - and swallowed by the rapacious banking giants.
It is a comfort that here in the Illawarra we still have two medium sized mortgage lenders who are prepared to sit down and talk to those needing a loan without the coldness of a rigid lending structure.
It lends credence to those who still think " small is beautiful " !
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