Wesfarmers has appointed Rob Scott to the new role of MD Financial Services, to lead the expansion of the group’s consumer financial services business.

Mr Scott – a former head of Wesfarmers Insurance – was appointed finance director for the group’s Coles supermarket division in February last year.

He says the new position “highlights the growth and importance of financial services to Coles and Wesfarmers, and I will continue to oversee the… expansion of Coles’ financial services offer”.

Coles launched a life insurance product last month and is now understood to be considering how low-cost banking-style products can be offered through its supermarkets.

Mr Scott will work from Sydney in the new role from October. His family lives in Sydney and he has been commuting from there to Coles’ Melbourne headquarters.