What is an ADI?

The Banking Act 1959 defines an ADI as a body corporate holding an authority under section 9 of the Act to carry on banking business, granted by APRA. The Act’s definition of banking business includes taking money on deposit and making advances, along with other activities it lists. Carrying on banking business generally needs that authority, subject to the Act’s exemptions, which is why the word matters: an ADI is a licensed, supervised institution, whatever it calls itself.

All three are ADIs under the same law and the same supervision. The names reflect history and ownership rather than the rules that apply. A credit union or building society is owned by its members; a bank is usually owned by shareholders, though many former credit unions now call themselves banks. This site labels each institution’s type on its page from a reviewed facts file.

APRA’s register groups ADIs as Australian-owned institutions, foreign subsidiary banks (incorporated here, such as ING Bank (Australia)), branches of foreign banks, and restricted ADIs, which are new entrants working towards a full licence. Purchased-payment providers such as PayPal appear on the register but do not take term deposits.

Two reasons. Only deposits at an ADI incorporated in Australia are covered by the Financial Claims Scheme; a foreign bank branch is an ADI but is not inside the guarantee. And the product-data feeds this site reads are published by banks under the Consumer Data Right; the methodology sets out which feeds are included and why a brand can be left out on a given day.

APRA’s register lists every ADI by legal name. A brand name can differ from the licence holder’s name, so match the legal entity rather than the logo. Each bank page on this site shows the registered brand string from the CDR register and, where reviewed, the parent group.