SBS Bank would continue to invest in the infrastructure of its business in the coming 24 months, chief executive Ross Smith told the annual meeting in Invercargill yesterday.
The investment was being done primarily for three reasons: new products; regulatory compliance; and risk management.
In the current financial year, SBS expected to deliver the new internet and mobile banking platform, the long-awaited debit Mastercard and start work on establishing a ''simple'' business banking product, he said.
''We won't stop there. It is a continuing programme as we strive to deliver competitive products.''
Mr Smith again drew attention to the amount of time SBS staff spent on regulatory compliance.
The burden of further regulation and financial data collection continued to ''rain down on us'' as it did for all banks.
Major projects such as open bank resolution and anti-money laundering had been developed and implemented over the past 12 months. At the same time, demands placed on SBS for statistical data had become more onerous by the month.
''By a rough estimate, I would suggest some 40% of head office time and resources are allocated to compliance - a heavy burden on the organisation in time, resources and of course, dollars.''
By its nature, banking came with some risk, he said. SBS had invested heavily in the business to mitigate that risk where it was appropriate.
With the increasing use of digital media to access banking, the risks of fraud became greater. The bank could take steps to minimise the risk of security breaches in the system but customers needed to protect their own systems and passwords if they were using the internet to access their accounts.
SBS had recently increased its shareholding percentage in two of its trading subsidiaries, Mr Smith said.
It owned 85% of Finance Now and 85% of Fanz, in addition to the 80% ownership of Southsure Insurance. There had been no change to the management of those companies.
Mr Smith told shareholders that the world economy remained fragile and the New Zealand economy remained two-paced and was heavily reliant on its trading partners.
SBS was positioning itself for the future.
''We have a great team of people and we are in great shape financially. Whatever we do, we will always keep in mind the need to protect this great institution,'' he said.
