Hawke's Bay-based credit union NZCU Baywide has had a big year with record profit, a 26 per cent increase in loan payouts and a 10 per cent increase in deposits as it prepares to step up its IT capability.
At the credit union's AGM in Napier last night, chief executive Gavin Earle announced a record $2 million operating surplus and an increase in assets of 10 per cent to $294 million for the year ended June 30.
The low-interest-rate environment "further squeezed margins" but costs were contained, he said.
A 64 per cent lift in online loan payouts showed an announcement by chairman Ian Taylor to be not before time, with Baywide joining 10 other New Zealand credit unions in a multi-million-dollar IT "tier one solution", arguably the most significant project in Baywide's 45-year history, he said.
"When we roll out the new system late in 2017 it will immediately deliver significant benefits in terms of capability, speed, agility, operational efficiencies, as well as exposure to Oracle's worldwide innovation budget going forward," he said.