Introduction

In response to a more competitive operating environment, FirstBank embarked on a corporate transformation project focused on driving key, cross-functional initiatives required to deliver on the Bank's aspirations. The central element of this is the pursuit of growth, to be achieved among other means by taking advantage of the "integration engine" to ensure the capture of expected value from the Bank's inorganic growth strategy. We have also commenced a standardisation process to increase our efficiency, speed, accuracy and optimise our overall cost structure. Ultimately, this requires that we achieve two clear objectives: create superior customer experience while re-focusing branch staff from processing to sales; and significantly improve our cost position by optimising distribution costs and improving customer convenience through enhanced service options.

A number of key additional initiatives are described in this section.