Westpac contract with NSW Government cements enduring partnership

James Thornhill
07:00am February 14 2025

Westpac will provide banking services to the government of New South Wales for a further five years under an expanded contract that cements a partnership that has endured for almost two centuries.

Under the new agreement, the bank will continue to provide transaction banking, merchant acquiring and liquidity management services, alongside additional responsibilities including public transport payments and commercial cards. The government will also be able to utilise Westpac’s DataX analytics capability to help inform its decision making.   

“Westpac has a long, shared history with New South Wales,” says Nell Hutton, Chief Executive, Westpac Institutional Bank. “Together we’ve navigated challenging economic times to help maintain the state’s financial resilience, transformed payments services and helped optimise the state’s balance sheet.

“We’re excited about the next phase of our relationship, partnering with the NSW Government as it increases the supply of new homes to solve the housing challenge and builds the infrastructure that makes this state a world class place to live, as well as supporting the climate transition,” Hutton says. 

Westpac also has an important role to play in helping people and businesses navigate the rapid modernisation of the payments system, including the move away from cheques and the bulk electronic clearing system in the next 3-5 years, Hutton adds.  

Long History

The bank can trace its links to the state back to 1817, when the Bank of New South Wales – which later became Westpac – was established under an agreement between Governor Lachlan Macquarie and a group of settlers.

“It was a time when free settlers and time-served convicts were starting to engage in what would become a free market economy. However, there was no certainty behind the transactions they were doing,” says Kim Eberhard, Head of Historical Services at Westpac. 

“So, Macquarie had this idea for an institution that would be the authoritative and trusted place where those transactions could happen.”

Macquarie’s involvement in the Bank of New South Wales’ establishment underlines the strong ties between the state and the bank since its earliest days, even though Westpac has never been a government bank, Eberhard says. 

Over the 19th century, the bank played an important role in helping to facilitate the expansion of trade in wool and wheat, but it was the discovery of gold in NSW and Victoria from the 1850s that really supercharged economic growth. 

The Bank of New South Wales established a branch in London to help open up global markets for these commodities. The bank’s presence in London also enabled it to raise funds for the fledgling New South Wales government, which were used to invest in infrastructure such as the telegraph system, roads, railways, and ports.

“The relationship between Westpac and the New South Wales government has endured for so long because it’s built on trust,” Eberhard says. 

“The bank has offered its services wherever they thought it was necessary and the government has come to us knowing that we had the appropriate structures in place that would allow us to facilitate whatever they needed.”

In more recent times, Westpac has played a crucial role in getting critical payments quickly and securely to the people of NSW during challenging times, including during COVID lockdowns and the devastating bushfires of 2019-20, and floods of 2022.

“We’re very proud of our continued partnership with the NSW Government, which underscores Westpac’s dedication to supporting the prosperity of the economy and the people of New South Wales,” Hutton says. 

The contract contains options to extend the arrangement for a further six years beyond the initial five-year term, ensuring a bright future for one of Australia’s longest-standing business partnerships. 



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James Thornhill

James Thornhill was appointed as editor of Westpac Wire in May 2022. Prior to joining the bank, he was a business and financial journalist with more than two decades of experience with international newswires. Most recently, he was a resources correspondent for Bloomberg, covering the mining and energy sectors, and previously reported on a broad range of topics from economics and politics to currency and bond markets. Originally from the UK, he’s had stints working in London, New York and Singapore, but is now happily settled in Sydney.

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