Visit the only bank in Highfields

It all started with the people...

The community of Highfields, just north of Toowoomba, has grown at an amazing rate over the last 20 years. In fact, it’s been acknowledged as the fastest growing community in Queensland. The result has been a quick transition from a small rural community to a semi-urban community in just a few years.

Given its rural background, the Highfields area had to quickly play catch-up to provide the kind of facilities and services that a more urban population demanded. With such rapid growth, local leaders recognised that the community needed to have a local banking provider that gave residents access to a full range of financial services. But they also saw the desirability of maintaining a community-based provider that had local interests at heart.

The solution was obvious – the Heritage Community Branch banking model, which had already proven a great success in the nearby community of Crows Nest. In December 2003, after investigating a number of options, local investors banded together to raise $80,000 in capital to open Heritage Bank Highfields Community Branch.

The Highfields community was also represented by Progressive Community Crows Nest Ltd (PCCN), the same community-based organisation that had already partnered with Heritage to open the Community Branch at Crows Nest.

That first joint-venture between Heritage and PCCN began when the Crows Nest Community Branch opened in 1999. As the first such community branch in Queensland, the Crow Nest Branch gave locals access to comprehensive financial services. Unlike other banks, a share of the profits was returned back into the community in the form of grants. Simply by doing their everyday banking, residents were supporting their community and the popularity of the Community Branch grew.

PCCN now proudly runs and manages the distribution of profits from both branches - Highfields and Crows Nest - back into local communities.

Benefits

• Locals supporting locals
• Eliminating travel to do the banking
• People are more likely to spend their money locally
• Competitive rates and products
• Longer trading hours than the major banks
• A better return for investors
• Profits going back to the community

Ongoing Success

Since opening in 2004, Heritage Highfields Community Branch has injected over $16.4 million back into the community through grants, sponsorships, local employment and more.

The community grants have enabled local organisations to complete numerous essential projects that may have never been possible if it wasn’t for this mutually beneficial relationship between PCCN and Heritage. So many community organisations simply don’t have the resources to raise large amounts of money needed to do their projects.

Access to better banking products

Highfields Community Branch provides the community with high quality banking, including fairer fees and better service. The success of the branch however, is thanks to the local people who bank with us knowing their community will get a share of the profits.

The branches are open longer, including Saturday mornings, and there are no account keeping fees on personal accounts. Customers are offered fair pricing, competitive fees and charges, flexible products and more staff to give you higher levels of service.

Community Grants - profits back to the local community

Applications for Highfields Community Grants are open all year round. If your Community Group is from the Highfields area and would like to apply for a Community Grant, please contact your local branch