Jamie McPhee

CEO of ME Bank Jamie McPhee understands the importance of empowering staff to drive customer- centricity. He has been instrumental in the cultural and technological changes that are developing in one of our country’s authentic alternatives to the major four banks. He discusses his journey to ME Bank’s top seat and how the company shifted from a rules-based organisation to one that is built on and governed by values.

"I did a civil engineering degree at the University of Adelaide and, when I completed my last exam, people were talking about who they were going to work for. When they asked me, I realised I didn’t know who I was going to work for—but I knew what I wasn’t going to do, and that was engineering. So I enrolled to do law, but instead went to the UK after my degree and played cricket. Prior to that, I had captained the Australian under-19 cricket side, which had people in it like Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, and Craig McDermott. While I was in London playing cricket, I started working for a merchant bank and loved it. I stayed in the UK for 18 months and then came back to Adelaide".

"I joined what was then the Co-op Building Society, in the treasury department, which became Adelaide Bank. After working across a range of roles within the bank, I became the managing director in November 2006. Adelaide Bank merged with Bendigo in late 2007 and, as part of that merger, Rob Hunt, who had been managing director of Bendigo Bank for about 20 years, became the ongoing managing director of the merged company. I left Bendigo and Adelaide Bank in February 2010 to join ME Bank. I’ve been in banking now for more than 25 years".