Industry Funds Services (IFS) was founded in 1994 by a group of industry super funds. Also in 1994, Super Member Home Loans (SMHL) was launched by the
ACTU in partnership with National Mutual (later to become
Axa). The primary focus of SMHL was on providing home loans to Australian members of industry super funds. In 1998, SMHL achieved $1 billion in funds under management; and in 1999, IFS entered into an agreement with AXA to establish a 50/50
joint venture company. In 2000, IFS and Axa launched Members Equity Bank Limited, that offered other banking products as well as home loans. Members Equity Bank obtained an Australian
banking licence in July 2001, and was approved to act as an
authorised deposit-taking institution, authorised to accept deposits from the public. In 2002, AXA withdrew from the joint venture, and Members Equity Bank became 100% owned by industry super funds. In 2003, Members Equity Bank obtained a
financial services licence and began offering financial services, in addition to bank deposit accounts. Also in 2003, the bank achieved $10 billion in funds under management. In 2009, Members Equity Bank was re-branded to "ME Bank", and in 2015, 'ME Bank' was shortened to 'ME'. IFS continues to provide fee-for-service financial planning advice for members of industry super funds. In July 2021, the 26
industry superannuation funds that owned ME Bank, including
AustralianSuper,
UniSuper,
Cbus,
HESTA and
Hostplus sold the bank to
Bank of Queensland for
A$1.325 billion. ==Controversy==