From hire purchase to property development: the rise and demise of the Industrial Acceptance Corporation in Australia, 1926–77

Abstract

While there are numerous histories of major Australian banks, the extant literature on the history of the Australian financial service sector pays only incidental attention to the role of finance companies and other non-bank financial institutions in the sector's long-term transformation, particularly the expansion of consumer credit. Drawing on Chandler's classic insights on the dynamics of firm strategy and structure, this paper focuses on the growth and development of one particular finance company – Industrial Acceptance Corporation (IAC) – between the 1920s and 1970s. IAC began as a subsidiary of a US finance company and grew to become one of Australia's leading and innovative finance companies. Based on hire purchase for automobiles and other consumer durables, it diversified into property development during the late 1960s. Imprudent lending practices concerning property development led to financial difficulties in the mid-1970s and ultimately its full takeover by US banking giant, Citibank, in 1977.