Westpac business banking general manager Ian Blair was full of praise for the way Dunedin and Otago businesses conducted themselves during the recession as he called on a whistle-stop visit this week.
Although officially on holiday, Mr Blair spent Monday visiting Central Otago wineries, a Ranfurly farm and the Westpac branch in Ranfurly before arriving in Dunedin.
The regional businesses managed themselves wisely during the recession, he said.
"Dunedin tends to be more prudent than some other areas. The businesses haven't leveraged up their balance sheets. They can take advantage of any opportunities to expand because the businesses are not up to their eyeballs in debt," he said in an interview.
In the last three months, the Auckland-based manager has visited branches and businesses from Invercargill to Cape Reinga as part of the Westpac strategy to become more involved with clients.
Thirty farm visits had been included in his itinerary.
Banks have been criticised for not lending to businesses or withdrawing credit lines in some sectors.
Mr Blair said Reserve Bank figures showed that lending to businesses had been cut $5 billion in the last 10 months.
While that was a "huge amount", Westpac had increased its business lending by $194 million in the same period.
In Otago, business lending had grown by $33 million while lending by other banks had reduced.
Asked if banks had changed the lending criteria to stop lending to some customers, Mr Blair said the criteria had not changed, it had just become harder for customers to meet lending standards.
Customers still required interest cover of 1.5 times profit for two years and they might not be making as much now as they were two years ago.
Also, the value of the assets used for security were sometimes worth less.
Across the country, Westpac had appointed 150 new business bankers, including four in Dunedin.
Mr Blair believed that a down-time was the best time to hire "hot bankers" - when the economy improved, skilled bankers would be in great demand.
It was unlikely Westpac would hire another 150 business bankers in the next 18 months, but the bank intended to keep lifting staff numbers to meet client demand.
Lending numbers supported the fact that Westpac was on the right track with its strategy, he said.
Westpac had decided to ensure customers had face-to-face contact with banking staff, whether they wanted personal or business finance.
In Dunedin, Otago retail manager Ken Cochrane and business manager Phil Moore worked in the same building.
Mr Cochrane said he and Mr Moore worked behind the scenes to ensure clients, whether they were exporters seeking specialised foreign exchange advice or small business owners seeking finance, got the best service.
The advantage of the policy was that every customer had access to Westpac's 200 branches around New Zealand for personal assistance.
