ME Bank
ME Bank, also known as ME, is an Australian direct bank based in Melbourne. ME Bank no longer has branches in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin. It became a subsidiary of Bank of Queensland in July 2021. Founded in 1994 as Super Member Home Loans (SMHL) by Australia's industry superannuation funds, SMHL became Members Equity Bank in 1999, and received a banking licence from the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) in July 2001 and was approved by APRA to act as an authorised deposit-taking institution, authorised to accept deposits from the public. Initially founded to offer access to home loan products, ME Bank today offers a range of low-cost banking products including home loans, savings accounts, credit cards, term deposits, and transaction accounts. History Industry Funds Services (IFS) was founded in 1994 by a group of industry super funds. Also in 1994, Super Member Home Loans (SMHL) was launched by the ACTU in partnership with National Mutual (later to become Axa). The primary focus of SMHL was on providing home loans to Australian members of industry super funds. In 1998, SMHL achieved $1 billion in funds under management; and in 1999, IFS entered into an agreement with