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The much anticipated LNG project may be located in Papua New Guinea but Bank South Pacific (BSP) is looking to Fiji to help it build a substantial Pacific franchise.
  BSP CEO and Managing Director, Ian Clyne said Fiji, with the second largest economy in the region, was critical to BSP’s plans to build a substantial Pacific franchise.
  With its purchase of Colonial Fiji and all its assets recently at an undisclosed sum, it has positioned itself as one of the main banking players in the region.
  BSP is already a major player in PNG—bigger than its Australian competitors—ANZ and Westpac combined.
  Clyne said the value of BSP’s assets in the region was considerably higher than that of the entire Fiji banking system.
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  Its regional growth initiatives have included the acquisition of banking businesses in Niue (where it is the only bank represented) and the National Bank of Solomon Islands, which now operates under the BSP name and is the largest bank in the Solomon Islands.”
  Clyne was quick to point out that BSP’s ambition was not to be the biggest, but the best.
  “The bank has established a reputation as one with a powerful customer focus and understanding of shareholder value. It has been operating in the Pacific for over 50 years and could justifiably claim a solid understanding of the financial needs of the people in the region.”
  On what Fiji can expect from the bank, Fiji-based General Manager Greg Watson outlined BSP plans in a presentation to a microfinance workshop last November.
  The bank’s plans include:
  • Within the first six months of operation with the merged Colonial Bank, it intends to give technology-enabled initiatives a higher priority.
  • Short Message Service (SMS) banking rollout.
  • Further investment in ATMs—245 by the end 2009.
  • Mobile phone top-ups from BSP ATMs.
  • Improve customer management and account opening process by leveraging technology used for ‘One View’ of the customer.
  • Enhancements to our Internet Banking Product Suite.
  • Introduce new EFTPOS terminals and services to take advantage of new technologies.
  BSP says that with the Fiji purchase, the PNG bank is now the major banking group in the Pacific with total assets in excess of K9 billion and nearly 3000 employees.
  “BSP is also the best capitalised bank operating in the Pacific with a ratio of common equity to total assets of more than 20%.”