Liana DeBattista is APS Bank’s Chief Strategy Officer, playing an integral role in defining forward-looking, growth strategies for the Bank and leading its overall strategic planning process. Here she talks about the Bank’s corporate strategy, its sustainability agenda and blazing a trail for women in finance.
The role of a CSO is primarily oriented to the long-term future of a company, its sustainability and profitability, developing the corporate strategy and guiding the business through the strategic planning process. Can you elaborate on your role as CSO, and your trajectory within the Bank leading up to this position?
My role is as diverse as it is detailed. As well as spearheading the Bank’s corporate strategy, my remit also includes product development, customer intelligence, CSR, culture, voice of the customer and marketing. Very recently, I was also entrusted with the relatively new function of ESG. Much of my time is also spent on a heavily curated business planning process, based on a three-year horizon. This is how we remain responsive to the emerging trends and changes in the market.
My journey at APS started when I took a junior marketing role with the Bank, just after finishing university. As my interest in banking developed, I made the rather unconventional, at the time, move into auditing, taking any opportunity that came my way to work with the various areas, thus building up my knowledge in banking. When, I finally landed in the strategy function, I was ready to make use of what I had learnt over the years, and of course continued growing professionally. This career path, which I hope also helped change the cultural perception of being a male-oriented industry, is what led to my position within the Bank’s C-suite.
Our forward-looking growth strategy is there to serve and benefit the Bank’s stakeholders, from employees to customers, shareholders to partners and ultimately the community at large
APS is known as the community Bank in Malta. How does APS embed community in its culture and overall strategy?
Being the community bank is APS’s overall vision, and we make sure to incorporate this ambition into every aspect. From inception, the Bank has championed projects of an inclusive social nature to help those in need or those who suffer some form of financial exclusion. Our forward-looking growth strategy is there to serve and benefit the Bank’s stakeholders, from employees to customers, shareholders to partners and ultimately the community at large. A case in point is the capital development plan currently in its last phase. By going to market to seek admission to the equity listing, the Bank is working to diversify the stakeholders’ base, one that encompasses the various segments of the community, and at the same time providing more capacity for future growth.
Do you think authenticity and customer-centricity are going to become increasingly more relevant in the coming year?
Authenticity is one of the Bank’s core values and at the heart of everything we do. We try to reflect this in all our services, from keeping our products and our terms and conditions simple, to being inclusive and first to market offering sustainable products. One of the functions the Bank has in place, VoC, is literally the voice of the customer, ensuring that the customers’ views and comments are heard. This is dedicated to enhancing customer experience and handling complaints independently of the Bank’s branches, for a more transparent service. The function also taps into extensive market research, providing us with insightful data on how to be proactive.
How important are the pillars of sustainable banking, ESG and green financing to APS bank?
The Bank’s long-standing commitment to sustainability has guided its actions throughout its trajectory, prompting it to co-create and launch several Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) products, among them the Social Loan, Equity Sharing Scheme, Home Deposit Scheme, New Hope Guarantee Scheme, Lending for Church Schools Initiative, Green Finance, Eco Loan products and the APS Green Home Loan. APS Bank also took the lead on promoting the debate of this conversation, setting up the Malta Sustainability Forum, which supports the Bank’s objective of raising awareness on the topic of sustainability and the need to empower citizens to make conscious decisions towards a more sustainable style of living.
A dedicated ESG committee, which I also sit on, has been set up, again leading the way locally on governance structures. This serves to ensure proper governance with the Bank’s assessment and strategic imple-mentation of its ESG principles into its regular operations, both internally and within the community. Through this committee, we manage the execution of related initiatives, ensure that progress is consistent, and that ultimately everyone is aligned towards the Bank’s common goals.
Liana DeBattista joined APS Bank in 2003 and held positions across multiple areas, including strategy, internal audit and marketing. Her main areas of expertise are business planning, corporate strategy formulation, product development, research, performance management and ESG. She was promoted to Head of Strategy & Propositions in 2020 and appointed Chief Strategy Officer in 2021. She sits on the Environmental, Social and Governance Committee and the Executive Committee. She holds a BSc in Business & Computing and a BCom (Hons) in Management, both from the University of Malta, and a First-Class M.Sc. in Corporate Finance from the University of Liverpool.
APS Bank plc is regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority as a Credit Institution under the Banking Act 1994 and to carry out Investment Services activities under the Investment Services Act 1994. The Bank is also registered as a Tied Insurance Intermediary under the Insurance Distribution Act 2018
The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of APS Bank plc.