We have recorded our first oral history interview for 2024 with Coastline Credit Union Director and former QBANK CEO Grant Devine. Grant told us about his early years in finance and his introduction to mutuals in 2001 through a role with Queensland Teachers Credit Union (now part of RACQ Bank).
The full transcript of the recorded interview will be available in due course but until then here are a couple of snippets …
I was born and bred in Brisbane. Actually, my father was a waterside worker and my mother was a stay-at-home mum. I went to school in the western suburbs of Brisbane, and I finished high school in 1981. Probably an average student at the end of the day with all the different experiences during those formative years.
After I left school I didn't know what I wanted to do. I even looked at going on the wharf with my father. But that didn't come to pass. But a couple of opportunities came up and I was offered an apprentice electrician role and a job with the ANZ Bank. The only reason that I took the bank role was that they offered it first, I could’ve been a tradie otherwise. It was an interesting turn of events when I was 17 after leaving school. So, I commenced my banking career in January 1981 with the ANZ Bank in Queen Street [Brisbane] …
My career had been split between three commercial banks both domestic and international networks, Citibank, Challenge Bank and ANZ Bank. When I left Citibank, I got married and went overseas with the kids – it was a great opportunity to take a break. I came back and a role came up, advertised in the paper as a Customer Service Manager with Queensland Teachers Credit Union.
I’d heard a little bit about them but not a lot. Credit unions were a very small sector, I never really took much notice of them. I got past the first interview and I wasn’t too sure culturally if the fit was for me. As you can imagine coming from Citibank, which was very commercially oriented to a credit union, it was very different.
I wasn’t sure this was for me, but they called me back for a second interview and I thought I’d go back for it, and they explained more about the ethos of the credit union movement and how customer focused they are and given my background is in sales and marketing, that really appealed to me.
Plus, the role had some staff responsibility as well, a lot more than what I would’ve had before, so I thought I’ll give this a go for a year or so and ended up really enjoying it. I stayed there six years and ended up Assistant General Manager …
