Heritage and People's Choice Limited, trading under the name People's Choice, is an Australian credit union based in Adelaide, South Australia. It is one of the largest credit unions in Australia, with branches in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Victoria, offering loans, credit cards, trading and savings accounts, mortgages and insurance.

History

The origins of People's Choice date back to 1949, and since then it has undergone a number of mergers, including with the Northern Territory Credit Union.

In August 2009, Central Australia Credit Union and Savings and Loans announced plans to merge, which were completed in December 2009. Savings and Loans Credit Union was established in 1949 as the South Australian Public Service Savings and Loans Association. At the time of its merger with Central Australia Credit Union, Savings and Loans had merged with a number of smaller credit unions. Included were SAGASCO Staff CU, Warwick Co-operative CU and SAATB CU. In 1992, the Credit Unions Act provided for the appearance of the word "credit union" in the official name, a number of options including Premier, Capital and Horizon were discussed, and the name Savings and Loans Credit Union (SA) Limited was approved at the Extraordinary General Meeting in 1994. In 2005, Savings and Loans merged with NSW NRMA Employees Credit Union, and in 2008, Austral Credit Union merged with Savings and Loans Credit Union.

Members then voted to change the name of the new organisation to People's Choice Credit Union, which was approved on 18 July 2011.

In November 2014, People's Choice Credit Union acquired TIO's banking arm from the Northern Territory Government, transferring the accounts and deposits of approximately 8,000 customers to People's Choice.

In August 2021, People's Choice Credit Union held discussions with Heritage Bank regarding a potential merger, and in April 2022, the two companies announced plans to merge. Members approved on 16 November 2022.

The newly merged organisation is named Heritage and People's Choice Ltd and operates under a banking licence held by People's Choice Credit Union. The merged organisation will remain member-owned and will continue to operate under the People's Choice and Heritage brands during the transition period before adopting a single new brand in 2024.

The new bank was announced in November 2023 and will be known as People First Bank.

Structure and Regulation

Heritage and People's Choice Limited is a mutual aid organisation and is a membership-based structure whose customers are also shareholders.

Funding

People's Choice completed a $650 million residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) offering in 2019. The offering was launched at $500 million but extended to $650 million after receiving a bid of $1.40 million. Light Trust 2019-1 is priced 102 basis points above the one-month bank note swap rate.

Index Data

People's Choice has developed a Housing Affordability and Liveability Index to assist people looking to purchase a home. People's Choice of Housing analyzes a suburb to determine whether the Financial Institution Group is likely to provide a loan at ordinary income and expenses to a couple who are interested in a medium-priced home in that suburb (maintainability), the cost of purchasing that home (affordability). It also provides a list of factors that summarize whether people are likely to want to live in that suburb (livability)