Which banks are owned by the big four?
The Australian banking sector is dominated by the big four banks — ANZ, Commonwealth Bank (also known as Commbank), NAB, and Westpac. They account for approximately 70% of all owner-occupier home loans in Australia, based on the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) data for May 2026.
Their power in the market is even greater when you consider that they each own at least one other bank.
Which banks are owned by ANZ?
- Suncorp
ANZ acquired Suncorp’s banking business in 2024 and aims to migrate all Suncorp banking customers to the ANZ platform by 2027.
Which banks are owned by CommBank?
- Bankwest
CommBank acquired Bankwest in 2008 and launched its digital home loan brand, Unloan, in 2022.
The bank also holds a 45% stake in Colonial First State and a 45% stake in Lendi Group, which in turn owns Aussie Brokers.
Which banks are owned by NAB?
- Ubank
NAB owns Ubank, which launched in 2008, and it later acquired neobank 84 600 and merged into the Ubank brand.
Which banks are owned by Westpac?
- Bank of Melbourne
- BankSA
- St.George
Westpac also owns the wealth management brand BT. It announced plans to sell mortgage lender RAMS in 2025, with the sale set to go ahead in 2026.
What about other banks?
Who owns Bendigo Bank?
Bendigo Bank and Adelaide Bank are both part of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which was formed through the merger of the two banks in 2007.
The company also owns Bendigo Bank Agribusiness (formerly Rural Bank) and Up Bank. On top of that, it’s also the backer and funder of digital lender Tiimely Home.
Which banks are owned by BOQ?
Bank of Queensland (BOQ) owns Virgin Money Australia and ME Bank. It also owns BOQ Specialist which provides specialist banking services to niche market segments including medical, dental, veterinary, and accounting professionals.
Does it matter if my bank is owned by another bank?
In general, one bank being owned by another will not impact your day-to-day banking. Though, it may have ramifications for the protection offered by the Australian Government’s Financial Claims Scheme (FCS).
The FCS protects deposits (like money kept in savings accounts, transaction accounts, and term deposits) of up to $250,000 per account holder for each licensed authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI). This means if a bank you keep money in goes bankrupt, the government would reimburse you up to $250,000 per account holder, per ADI. Be aware that some banking brands share the same ADI licence.
If you have deposits spread across multiple banking brands that share the same licence, you may find only $250,000 is protected, even if more than one bank goes bust.
For example, Bankwest and CommBank share a banking licence, as do Westpac, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA, and St.George. So if you had $200,000 in a Westpac account and $100,000 in a St.George account, only $250,000 in total would be covered by the scheme.
Banking businesses under one banking licence
To find out whether your deposits will be covered, you can check APRA’s list of authorised deposit-taking institutions. This list includes ADIs and their different trading names.
At the time of writing, APRA notes that the following ADIs operate multiple banking businesses under the one banking licence:
Bank Australia
- Bank Australia
- Qudos Bank
Bank of Queensland
- BOQ Specialist (BOQS)
- ME Bank
- Virgin Money
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
- Adelaide Bank
- Bendigo Bank
- Rural Bank
- Up Bank
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
- CommBank
- Bankwest
Community First Credit Union
- Community First Bank
- Easy Street Financial Services
- Illawarra Credit Union
IMB Bank
- IMB Bank
- The Shire
MyState Bank
- Auswide
- MyState Bank
National Australia Bank
- NAB
- Ubank
Newcastle Greater Mutual Group
- Newcastle Permanent
- Greater Bank
Police Bank
- Border Bank
- Bank of Heritage Isle
- Police Bank
Police & Nurses
- P&N Bank
- BCU Bank
Teachers Mutual Bank
- Firefighters Mutual Bank
- Health Professionals Bank
- Teachers Mutual Bank
- UniBank
Unity Bank
- G&C Mutual Bank
- Reliance Bank
- Unity Bank
Westpac Banking Corporation
- Bank of Melbourne
- BankSA
- St.George Bank
- Westpac
Source: APRA (July 2026)
Note that in some cases, a bank may hold its own ADI licence in addition to that of its parent company. For example, Suncorp Bank (owned by ANZ) holds its own ADI licence.
