Trailblazing Alex Neskovski became the first banker in Australia to pass the qualification when it was rolled out in 2018.
Alex, who was 22-years-old at the time, has also become one of the first to qualify through the Certified Professional Banker course, which is the next stage on the path to becoming a Chartered Banker.
His dedication and on the job experience has seen him take on successive senior roles, moving from RateSetter to Westpac, then on to National Australia Bank and most recently accepting a position at St George-Westpac.
Alex - who was still at university when he passed the PBF in just three months - said that both courses help add extra levels of practical understanding for ambitious banking professionals.
While there are now thousands of Australian graduates of the globally-recognised course, it is still in its early stages.
But he believes it can be a vital career accelerator and is of benefit to everyone working at a bank.
“It doesn't even really need to just be those in front office roles that go through the course,” he says.
“It’s applicable across all the different roles at a bank, regardless of how senior or how junior, whether your are client-facing or not. It is definitely beneficial to have that perspective and see it from different divisional points of view.
“As I said when I first passed, I’d recommend taking the PBF to anyone considering getting into financial services.
“As a professional qualification, it’s certainly a comprehensive course. It is definitely a good complement and more practical than studying academic qualifications.”
Alex found those practical benefits with Certified Professional Banker too.
He added: “It really did help give me the base understanding in business banking, and then also the auxiliary area of risk and risk management, which is very important in banking because - let's be honest - the majority of the industry itself is risk management of various sorts.
“Understanding credit was something that really did help me along the way and very much complemented my post-graduate master’s studies.
“The CPB provided the information showing how these issues directly impacts you in your role in a practical and very useful way.
“It was something that you didn't really get out of a master's in regards to the credit writing aspect itself and the more particular aspects of structuring loans. I don't think any university really covers that portion.
“That's gained through either work experience or through the CPB.”
That Alex completed the Business Banking module while at Westpac - completing his master’s at the same time - then went on to pass Risk and Risk Management when he had moved to NAB highlights how portable the course can be.
While his diligence has paid dividends with the career opportunities that have come his way, his professional attitude to the industry is such that he is already looking towards Chartered Banker.
“That is definitely on the list of things to do,” he said.
