PSIS eyes growth without losing the personal touch

By IRENE CHAPPLE

New PSIS chief executive Girol Karacaoglu dreams of tripling customer numbers within the next five years. But he admits it is unlikely.

"Probably more realistic is that we could double it ... tripling sounds a bit ambitious."

But Karacaoglu has big plans for the co-operative financial institution that yesterday reported an after-tax profit of $6.9 million and a 13.2 per cent increase in loans to $484 million.

Karacaoglu sees growth as the key, but does not want to abandon the co-operative's point of difference, which is personal service.

Personal banking is PSIS's forte, and it will not be moving into business banking, says Karacaoglu. Indeed, his contract has disallowed such a move because it is seen as too far from the institution's basic offering.

However, he may broaden the definition of personal banking to include small family businesses.

Karacaoglu considers the best way to increase PSIS's customer base is to open more branches and widen offerings to include, for example, credit cards.

A joint venture with another financial institution has been considered but, says Karacaoglu, the best option is simply increasing the catchment area for PSIS. It would be funded by reserves currently sitting at $63 million.

Karacaoglu also wants to tackle the perception that money banked with PSIS is not safe because it is not a registered bank. He says the board is considering registration, although it would like to remain a co-operative.

The changes, if accepted by the board, would take place fast. Registration would need to be done within 18 months, and he would expect to see 20 more outlets rolled out within the next three years.

But it all needs to be done, he says, without losing the personal touch.

"We distinguish ourselves by saying when you call us there will be a person on the other end and when you come into our branches we will know you by name ... but if we are so good why don't we have five times the customer base?"