Westpac’s proposed takeover of St George could result in thousands of lost jobs and lower levels of customer service according to the Financial Sector Union. Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly has said that there will be no net reduction in the merged group’s number of branches and ATM’s and that both the St George and BankSA brands would be maintained. FSU secretary Leon Carter said that he could not accept these assurances as the union had learned from “bitter experience” of past takeovers, in particular Westpac’s purchase of Challenge Bank and the Bank of Melbourne, where employees and customers had suffered.