Westpac continues to mix up its senior leadership team with the appointment of Carolyn McCann as the bank's new acting chief executive, consumer bank division, a move that is expected to bring further improvements to the broker channel.
McCann will begin her tenure May 12, following the departure of outgoing Chief Executive for Consumer Banking Jason Yetton. The seasoned executive, who currently serves as Westpac’s group executive, customer and corporate services, will step into the role on an interim basis while the bank conducts an external search for a permanent replacement.
"Carolyn is an outstanding executive who has overhauled the operations of the bank in her current role," said Westpac Chief Executive Officer Anthony Miller. "Under Carolyn’s leadership, our broker time to decision has more than halved, scam losses have been reduced by 40%, and our customer complaints process has been dramatically simplified."
The CEO went on to praise McCann’s customer-first approach, describing her as a leader who "empowers her people to act," and expressed confidence she would maintain this focus in leading the consumer division.
The transition follows broader leadership changes within Westpac. Carolyn Hoy, the bank’s general manager of property, procurement and resilience, will act as group executive, customer and corporate services during McCann’s secondment.
For brokers, McCann’s appointment signals a continuation — and potentially an acceleration — of improvements in service efficiency and decision turnaround times. Under her prior leadership, Westpac made significant gains in streamlining broker services, which included cutting loan application decision times by more than half. The improvements have served as a competitive advantage in a mortgage market where speed, certainty and service quality increasingly influence broker and customer choices.
McCann’s focus on operational efficiency and customer outcomes signals that brokers will likely benefit from the bank's prioritization of initiatives, such as faster approvals, reduced administrative hurdles and stronger fraud prevention measures.
McCann's new gig comes amid a turbulent market environment, including rising broker market share, looming cash rate cuts and an increasing number of lenders seeking out broker relationships. At present, approximately 76% of borrowers in Australia use a broker for their financial decisions. In addition, official cash rate (OCR) cuts loom on the horizon at next month's Reserve Bank of Australia meeting, and competition among lenders heats up.
McCann steps into the consumer bank leadership role at a time when the broker channel is increasingly central to lender-growth strategies. Competition among banks to win broker-originated business has never been more apparent — and speed, consistency and service are often the deciding factors.
Market players note that McCann’s interim leadership could bolster Westpac’s reputation among brokers looking for lenders that can deliver in today's fast-moving environment.
Jason Back, founder and director of Broker Essentials, as well as an expert broker coach, said the fight among lenders to secure both broker and borrower relationships is "100 percent" increasing.
"Lender competition across the board — both the digitized and the priority channels or the proprietary channel — is in focus for [lenders]," he told Australian Broker. "And we understand that profitability is a key factor in shareholder returns. So the idea of putting more resources into customer care and customer focus is a good thing. Anytime that we get good focus on customers and then the right outcomes for customers, it can only be a good thing."
