Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has secured an agreement to acquire RACQ Bank’s retail lending assets and deposit base, a move expected to expand its customer network and bolster its presence in Queensland. The deal, announced December 4, 2025, will bring over 90,000 customers to Bendigo Bank, according to statements from both institutions. The acquisition encompasses $2.7 billion in retail loans and $2.5 billion in deposits as of June 30, 2025. Bendigo Bank intends to fund the purchase entirely from its existing cash reserves. The bank anticipates net interest income of $50–$55 million from the acquired portfolio and estimates incremental servicing costs of $12–$14 million before tax. Bendigo Bank CEO Richard Fennell stated the acquisition would diversify the bank’s customer base and increase its residential lending exposure in Queensland from 15% to 18%. The move is also expected to contribute to improved shareholder returns through cost efficiencies and geographic diversification. The transaction is projected to be 35–40 basis points accretive to Bendigo Bank’s return on equity and 4–5 cents per share accretive to cash earnings per share. Completion of the acquisition is targeted for the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approvals. The acquisition comes as Bendigo Bank continues to integrate Adelaide Bank customer accounts and reported a 2.8% sequential increase in cash earnings after tax to $256.4 million. Net interest margins also saw a four-basis-point increase to 1.92%. Overall customer deposits increased 1.1% sequentially to $73.7 billion, even as total funding decreased 1.6% to $93.6 billion. RACQ Managing Director and Group CEO David Carter said the sale would allow RACQ Bank members to benefit from the scale and investment capabilities of Bendigo Bank, particularly in digital banking services. RACQ and Bendigo Bank have also agreed to a referral arrangement for deposits, savings, and home loans, leveraging RACQ’s 1.7 million membership base. Bendigo Bank’s transformation program, which aims to reduce its core banking systems from eight to one by the end of 2025, will facilitate the migration of RACQ Bank members to Bendigo Bank products. The bank expects to complete the migration process during the second half of 2026.
