Kathy Cummings exits role following restructure
A recent restructure of the retail distribution team at Bank of Queensland has culminated in the departure of longstanding broker head Kathy Cummings.
Cummings (pictured above left) was appointed to the role of general manager broker at BOQ in December 2019. She has been instrumental in driving the delivery of enhancements across the bank’s third-party operations.
Amid speculation that Cummings – who was BOQ’s broker head for just over three years – had left, MPA approached BOQ for comment.
In response, a spokesperson for BOQ Group said that the bank, which also owns Virgin Money Australia and ME Bank, had recently changed the structure of its retail distribution team to “pursue its multi-brand strategy”.
BOQ confirmed that Johnny Lockwood (pictured above right) had been appointed to the newly created role of general manager broker, credit cards and loyalty.
Lockwood has worked with BOQ Group for the past 11 years, most recently as Virgin Money Australia general manager, commercial, which included ownership of the Virgin Money home loan product and broker distribution.
He will be responsible for leading the multi-brand retail third-party distribution channel, delivering on BOQ Group credit card partnerships and transformation roadmap, and executing the Group loyalty strategy, the BOQ spokesperson said.
“Johnny Lockwood will take responsibility for leading our multi-brand third-party retail distribution channel, bringing his extensive experience in leading broker channels,” the BOQ spokesperson said.
Following Lockwood’s appointment, the BOQ spokesperson confirmed that Cummings had moved on from the BOQ Group, departing earlier this month.
“We thank Kathy for her contribution and wish her great success. She has been a respected and valued member of the BOQ Group team,” the BOQ spokesperson said.
With over 20 years’ experience in the industry, Cummings was previously the executive general manager at CBA and was also a non-executive director for Lung Foundation Australia.
While at BOQ, Cummings announced the arrival of electronic lodgements, facilitating end-to-end processing of loan applications. Under Cummings’ watch, the bank made changes in its valuations area and improved processes, helping to remove “friction points” encountered by brokers during the lodgement and approval process.
Cummings’ departure follows the exit of former managing director and CEO George Frazis in November 2022, when BOQ announced that chairman Patrick Allaway would step in as executive chairman while the search for a new leader was conducted.
