SYDNEY: Bank of Queensland Ltd (BoQ) will buy ME Bank, a digital lender owned by 26 industry pension funds, for A$1.33bil (US$1.05bil), the pair said, as the second-tier lender chips away at the lead of Australia’s “Big Four” banks. The deal will double the size of the Brisbane-based regional bank’s retail arm, taking deposits to more than A$56bil, and boost the division’s contribution to earnings to more than 50% from 36%, BoQ said. Even with the deal, BoQ will still lag far behind the Big Four banks, which control about three-quarters of the lending market and have glided through the pandemic better than some of their international peers.