Incoming head of third party for Suncorp Steven Heavey has vowed the bank’s credit policies and broker processes will go under the microscope when he begins his role.

Heavey told Australian BrokerNews Suncorp had already begun making changes aimed at courting the third party channel, and said he would conduct a “total strategic review” of the bank’s policies and processes to ensure Suncorp was “easier to do business with”. He stated that credit policies would be a key part of this review.

“In this environment if you really want to grow your business, you need to have a credit policy consistent with where the market’s at, while balancing that out with bringing good quality business in for Suncorp. Credit will be high on the agenda, as will processes. I’ll be devoting a lot of energy to that,” Heavey said.

Commissions will also be under review, though Heavey said he did not foresee major changes other than ensuring commission structures were straightforward.

“I think the key to commissions is you don’t want to get overly technical. You want to keep it simple. I believe Suncorp has already made some changes to their commission structure in recent times. I don’t envision too many changes other than trying to simplify things,” he said.

Heavey commented that Suncorp had a renewed commitment to the broker channel, and said its strategy to grow through intermediary business drew him to the role.

“One of the things I liked about the discussions I had with Suncorp is that at every stage of the recruitment process they demonstrated a very strong commitment to be in this space. The CEO, David Foster, is genuinely committed to building the business through brokers. This isn’t just jump in, jump out. They seriously want a long-term relationship with brokers, and are committed to growing the business using that channel,” he said.

Indicative of this commitment, Heavey said, was the creation of the role he will now fill.

“The role didn’t exist previously. The very fact that they’ve decided to bring someone in at my level is a clear demonstration to the industry that they’re serious about distribution through brokers,” Heavey commented.