The Greater Building Society has again been named Australia’s Building Society of the Year. The Greater took out the award at last night’s Australian Banking and Finance Awards (Thursday June 9).

Greater chief executive officer Don Magin said he had a dedicated family of staff and a global comedian to thank for the award.

Mr Magin said the Greater has this year achieved an increase in market share of around 35 percent, much higher than the gains made by mutual building societies and credit unions as a whole.

 “Thanks to the hard work of my 700 staff and Jerry Seinfeld, the Greater is succeeding in its mission to be a viable alternative to the major banks to offer real competition for consumers,” Mr Magin said.

“We have worked hard to improve our product offering while maintaining our focus on delivering very competitive rates, low fees and outstanding service to members,” he said.

“I want the Greater to be the best, most customer focused financial institution in Australia.”

In addition to winning the Building Society of the Year Award, Greater CEO Don Magin was one of only three finalists in the Financial Services Executive of the Year Award. ANZ CEO Mike Smith took out that award. The other finalist was Commonwealth Bank CEO Ralph Norris.

The awards were held at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney and were hosted by financial journalist Michael Pascoe.

The Greater was also named Building Society of the Year in the most recent AFR Smart Investor Blue Ribbon Awards and the Mozo People’s Choice Award.

The Greater is one of Australia’s largest building societies serving almost 250,000 members across NSW, South-east Queensland and Townsville. One of Australia’s Top 200 private companies (BRW 2010), it has 67 branches and assets worth more than $4billion.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Craig Eardley on 0437 477 493.