Westpac boss Gail Kelly says no jobs or branches in the Illawarra will be sacrificed if the plan to merge with St George goes ahead."The branches will stay, the business banking centres will stay and the jobs will stay," she promised.The ironclad commitment was made several times yesterday during an interview with the Mercury at the official launch of Westpac's new business banking centre in Wollongong.Westpac has eight branches in the Illawarra and one at Bowral, while St George has five in the region."Those branches will stay, that's the point, those branches will definitely stay," she said."My understanding in our Illawarra area is all of our operations for Westpac and our operations for St George are front-facing branches or business banking centres."So those branches and those people in those branches will remain."There's no intention ... for anyone to lose a job in this Illawarra area."Efficiency savings would be made in head office and operational positions instead, Mrs Kelly said.Still, Westpac has embarked on an advertising blitz to keep Illawarra residents informed about the proposed merger, different from "what the Australian public are used to"."The reality is that in the last 10 years bank mergers have very often involved the closing of branches and brands over time being dismantled," Mrs Kelly said."It's really quite important for us to be as clear as we can in saying that's not what we are intending here."St George would sit "alongside Westpac", run as separate businesses, and "customer choice would be respected".Even branches that were closely located would stay, she said, suggesting, through the St George-Illawarra Dragons, that St George had gained a high profile in the Illawarra that should remain.The merger is subject to clearance by Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, the banking regulator APRA and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, all of whom will scrutinise the leading position that Westpac and St George would assume.Mrs Kelly said there were no plans to raise interest rates in the near future and she expected evidence of slowing growth in the economy would mean the Reserve Bank wouldn't either.Asked how Westpac would justify rate rises at a time of no official rise to a working-class West Wollongong family, Mrs Kelly said she understood what people were experiencing and that the bank provided services for those facing strain."Westpac understand the difficulties that families have in making ends meet, we absolutely understand that," she said. "Prices really should not, do not, necessarily move in lock step with the official rate rises, the only product that has is the home lending product."I think what we can expect to see in the future is more of a situation where the Reserve Bank may raise and banks may not raise or the reverse."The Wollongong Business Banking Centre in Atchison St, part of Westpac's plans to engage more with local communities, will have 30 employees.John Dryden, the centre's boss, was confident Westpac could make an impact on the Wollongong banking market by providing a "higher level of service".