There are many things Westpac Bank wants to do in the next five years in the region. But one of the major things it is striving to achieve is to be more customer-focused.

As Westpac Pacific Banking General Manager Jane Kittel told Islands Business in an interview, “we’ve restructured some of our business units and are in the process of streamlining some of our processes.

“We want to help every customer achieve all their financial goals and delight them with our service. We aim to earn all our customers’ business.”

Kittel believes that in the Pacific region, Westpac’s commitment to putting its customers at the centre of everything the bank does “will see us improve the information we provide to customers on our products, our fees and charges and keep our customers up-to-date with what’s happening.

“We will also continue to invest in providing more ATMs and branches to improve our customers’ banking experience.

“We’re continuing to build on our sustainability agenda. We recognise the role we play in the region as a major employer and business and know we play a leadership role in sustainable business practices.”

For example, Kittel says the bank’s aim this year is to work with top suppliers in the region to ensure they comply with its Sustainable Supply Chain Management Code of Conduct in relation to local laws and regulations regarding employment practises, employee benefits, health and safety and anti-discrimination, as well as the use of child labour and a number of other criteria.

“We are also committed to taking a leading role in increasing the financial literacy of communities in the South Pacific and, of course, with the strong commitment of our employees, we’ll continue our community involvement activities which we believe contribute to the well-being of the communities where we operate,” Kittel says.

Westpac, which is present in seven countries in the region—Papua New Guinea, Solomon islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa—earns the bulk of its business from small to medium enterprises and the corporate sector.

However, like any other banks in the region, one of its major challenges is managing risk and compliance.

“At Westpac, we have specific roles responsible for managing different aspects of risk and we have a culture that reinforces everyone is responsible for managing risk and compliance, and optimising our risk means better business.

“Throughout the global financial crisis, we’ve demonstrated that effective compliance and risk management sets us apart from our competitors and importantly gives our customers confidence.

“We rely on the quality of key infrastructure support to provide services to our customers. At times, this presents challenges, so we’ve taken steps to ensure we have back-up capability to limit the impact to our customers of potential power or telecommunication outages.”

Kittel says attracting and retaining skilled resources is another challenge faced by the bank and to address this, it is investing heavily in the development of its employees across the region.

“For our employees, we’re making Westpac a great place to work which comes through in our employee engagement and commitment levels, which is rated in the top quartile of results for global high performing companies,” she says.

 Employing 1200 people across the region, Westpac believes economic growth in the region will slow down as the impacts of the global financial crisis flow through to the developed countries around the world that engage in the Pacific.

 Kittel believes tourism will be affected due to the slowdown in our major tourism markets—Australia and New Zealand.

 “In PNG and Solomon Islands, the decrease in commodity prices are expected to drive lower revenue and new investment in the region may also be impacted by uncertainty in the global market. On the upside, we expect the high inflation levels experienced in 2008 will reduce as a result of lower oil prices driving fuel and food prices down for local businesses and people.

“In the business sector, these challenging economic times can also represent opportunities for well managed businesses to review strategic plans for the future and ensure they are well positioned to capitalise on the growth opportunities as economic conditions improve,” says Kittel.

She adds that her bank was well positioned against the current global financial crisis.

“Westpac is a strong and secure bank and our customers can bank with Westpac in the Pacific with confidence. We are one of only 17 banks worldwide with AA rating. We are well positioned to meet the challenges of the current global environment.

“We are performing well, with earnings growing in 2008 and are one of the best-rated banks in the world with a strong capital, liquidity and funding position.

“The Pacific region economies whilst not totally immune, have been somewhat sheltered from the impacts of the global financial crisis, however, as the impacts from the financial crisis flow through to the real economy, we expect the region will experience a slowdown in growth.

“Like all businesses, we need to adapt and be prepared for more challenging economic times. Most importantly, it means working closely with our customers and using our experience to navigate through these times,” says Kittel.