National Australia Bank facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
National Australia Bank Limited

National Australia Bank headquarters in Melbourne
Type	Public
Traded as	ASX: NAB S&P/ASX 200 component
Industry	Banking, financial services
Founded	1 October 1981 (as National Commercial Banking Corporation of Australia Limited)
Headquarters	395 Bourke Street Melbourne, Australia
Area served	Australia
Key people	Andrew Irvine (CEO) Philip Chronican (Chairman)
Products	Business banking Consumer banking Wholesale banking Wealth management Insurance
Revenue	A$ 20.654 billion (2023)
Net income	A$ 7.414 billion (2023)
Total assets	A$ 1,059.08 billion (2023)
Number of employees	38,128 (2023)
Divisions	UBank
Subsidiaries	Bank of New Zealand

The National Australia Bank (often called NAB) is one of the four biggest banks in Australia. These four banks are sometimes called "The Big Four." NAB is known for its large size in terms of how much the company is worth, how much money it earns, and how many customers it has.

In 2019, NAB was ranked as the 21st largest bank in the world by its market value. It was also the 52nd largest bank globally based on its total assets. As of January 2019, NAB had 3,500 Bank@Post places and over 7,000 ATMs across Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. It served about 9 million customers.

NAB has a strong credit rating of "AA−" from Standard & Poor's, which means it's considered a very reliable bank.

History of NAB

How NAB Started: 1982–1999

The old National Bank of Australasia building, now at Old Gippstown in Moe.

The National Australia Bank was created in 1982. It was formed when two banks, the National Bank of Australasia and the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney, joined together. At first, the new company was called National Commercial Banking Corporation of Australia Limited, but it was soon renamed National Australia Bank Limited.

Because the new bank was much bigger, it started to grow internationally. It opened offices in many cities around the world, including Beijing, Chicago, Seoul, San Francisco, and Kuala Lumpur.

In 1987, NAB bought two banks in the UK: Clydesdale Bank in Scotland and Northern Bank in Northern Ireland. Later, in 1990, NAB also bought Yorkshire Bank in England and Wales.

In 1992, NAB purchased the Bank of New Zealand. This bank became a part of NAB but kept its own local management in New Zealand. NAB also continued to buy other companies, like Michigan National Bank in the US in 1995.

This time of fast growth through buying other companies ended with two big purchases. In 1997, NAB bought HomeSide Lending, a mortgage company in the US. Then, in 2000, it bought MLC Limited for a large sum of money, which was one of the biggest company mergers in Australian history.

Changes and Challenges: The 2000s

The early 2000s were a bit tough for NAB. In 2000, NAB sold Michigan National Bank. In 2001, it sold HomeSide's main business parts.

There was also a problem with foreign currency trading that caused the CEO and Chairman to leave. After this, John Stewart became the new CEO in 2004. He made big changes to how the company was organized.

In 2005, NAB announced it would cut about 2,000 jobs in Australia. This was part of a plan to reduce costs globally. The bank also started moving some of its back-office jobs to other countries like India. Later that year, it sold Northern Bank and National Irish Bank.

As part of these changes, NAB built a new main office in Docklands, Melbourne. This building has an open design. In 2009, this Docklands building became the main global headquarters for NAB.

By 2006, NAB was doing much better. It reported a record profit and won awards. It also updated all its branches and changed its branding from 'National' to 'nab'.

In 2008, NAB launched a new online-only bank called UBank. This bank has no physical branches.

In 2009, Cameron Clyne became the new CEO. He focused on improving NAB's reputation and growing its business in Australia. NAB tried to stand out from other big banks with a marketing campaign in 2011, encouraging people to "break up" with other banks.

NAB also bought more businesses in 2009, including a mortgage business from Challenger Financial Services and parts of Aviva's wealth management business.

Focusing on Home: The 2010s

NAB's financial results in 2012 were not as good, which made them rethink their plans. In 2014, Andrew Thorburn became the new CEO.

As part of a plan to focus more on Australia, NAB sold its US business, Great Western Bank, in 2014 and 2015.

An old National Australia Bank building in Brisbane.

In 2015, NAB also decided to separate its UK businesses, Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank. These banks became a new company called The CYBG plc in 2016.

In 2019, Ross McEwan became the new CEO.

Recent Developments: The 2020s

In 2021, NAB announced it would buy the online bank 86 400 and combine it with UBank. Also in 2021, NAB sold its wealth management businesses, including MLC Wealth.

In September 2021, NAB temporarily changed its logo to "JAB" to encourage people to get COVID-19 vaccines.

In 2022, NAB moved its main global headquarters to a new building at 395 Bourke Street in Melbourne. Also in 2022, NAB bought the consumer banking business from Citibank in Australia.

In January 2023, NAB announced plans to create a new type of digital money called AUDN. This digital money will be linked to the Australian Dollar. It will be used to make international bank transfers easier and for trading carbon credits.

NAB's Leadership

Chief Executives

Here are the people who have been the chief executive (CEO) of NAB:

Chairs

These people have been the chairman of NAB's board:

How NAB is Organized

The National Australia Bank Group has different parts, or divisions, spread across Australia, New Zealand, and other global locations.

Technology at NAB

A NAB bank ATM.

NAB uses special computer systems to manage its customer relationships, like Siebel and Teradata. These systems help the bank understand and serve its customers better.

In 2006, NAB won an award for its customer relationship system, which they called "National Leads."

In 2010, NAB had a big computer problem that caused about 60,000 banking transactions to be lost. They had to fix these manually.

NAB also started a project called "NextGen" to update its main banking computer systems. These older systems were up to 40 years old. The goal was to replace them with newer technology, and UBank was one of the first parts of NAB to use these new systems.

More recently, in 2020, NAB partnered with Microsoft to move some of its important computer programs to the cloud. This helps them develop new things faster. Also in 2020, NAB started a "bug bounty" program with Bugcrowd. This means they pay security experts to find weaknesses in their computer systems, which helps keep the bank safe.

Being a Responsible Company

NAB tries to be a responsible company. In 2008, it spent $33.5 million on projects that help the community. Their goal is to spend 1% of their profits before tax on these kinds of initiatives.

In 2009, NAB became the largest workplace in Australia to use Fairtrade products, like tea, coffee, and hot chocolate, in their offices. In 2010, NAB became one of Australia's largest carbon neutral companies, meaning they balance out their carbon emissions.

Sponsorships and Support

NAB supports many things, especially Australian rules football. They sponsor Auskick, which helps young footballers, and also the NAB Cup (a pre-season competition), the NAB AFL Rising Star award, and the AFL National Draft. They have also sponsored the Socceroos (Australia's national soccer team) and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

NAB also helps community groups and provides financial support to farmers affected by drought and people affected by floods. They also sponsor the Sheikh Fehmi El-Imam Scholarship, which helps students study finance and economics.

NAB is also the main sponsor for the AFL Women's league.

See also

• Banking in Australia
• List of banks
• List of banks in Australia
• List of banks in Oceania