Financing Fiji’s future growth
With six major banks, five of which are internationally owned, competing in a market of less than a million people, Fiji’s banking and financing sector is inevitably highly competitive.
BRED Bank’s main branch in Suva. Credit: BAI
As Reserve Bank of Fiji Governor Arrif Ali tells Business Advantage Fiji, Fiji’s banking and finance sector is in good shape.
There is plenty of liquidity in the system, interest rates remain at historic lows, non-performing loans are running at around three per cent and the banks themselves are achieving healthy profits.
BSP Fiji, part of the Pacific’s largest bank, BSP Financial Group, achieved strong results in 2025 and has approximately 28 per cent market share across both loans and deposits.
“BSP’s result is underpinned by the investment that we’ve made in our network – in our infrastructure, the number of branches we have across the country, the number of ATMs, the number of EFTPOS, number of staff – and the quality of the service we offer,” says Country Head Maikash Ali.
Australian commitment
“In terms of Fiji and the Pacific more locally we’ve had a good half-year,” says ANZ’s Fiji Country Head, Sohaib Mahmood.
ANZ is unique among Fiji’s banks in that its Pacific operations, including those in Fiji, are supported by a limited A$2 billion guarantee from the Australian government signed in 2025. Under this guarantee, the bank has committed to invest A$50 million in its Pacific banking operations and maintain fee-free international money transfers.
“It’s about having a meaningful presence and ensuring our returns and everything that we measure at a group level is also held at the Pacific or Fiji level specifically,” Mahmood elaborates.
“We’re now investing in long-term infrastructure. We’ve got a commitment to put our $50 million into banking systems, including digital banking. This will result in faster customer turnarounds, more efficient banking, better quality products, and safer banking.”
Fiji’s other Australian-owned bank, Westpac, recommitted to the Fiji market in 2023, when it took its Pacific operations off the market.
Finding gaps in the market
ANZ is by no means the only international bank to be investing more in Fiji. BRED Bank, part of the French-owned Banque Populaire Group, has been active in the country since 2012 and has a presence in other Pacific markets such as New Caledonia, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
In 2026, it opened a new head office in Suva and a new branch in Sigatoka. According to its CEO, Pierre Tastet, a new flagship branch in Nadi is set to open by year’s end.
“BRED is a French bank with strong ambition overseas, particularly in developing economies,” he tells Business Advantage Fiji. “We are committed to the development of Fiji’s economy for the long-term.”
Without the decades of history in Fiji that some other banks have, BRED Bank’s focus, says Tastet, is on the quality of its staff, services and tools.
“We want to build our branches to play advisory roles, while everyday transactions are moved to our digital platforms.”
Credit Corporation’s Suva head office. Credit: BAI
BRED’s new branches have separate facilities for retail and corporate banking. Tastet says they can draw on expertise from across the BRED Group’s international businesses if needed to help execute more complex deals such as equity finance and structured debt.
Small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are also a focus, with the bank recently signing a deal with the IFC, part of the World Bank Group, under which the IFC will provide credit guarantees to support BRED Bank issuing more loans to small businesses in Fiji.
Fiji’s only locally owned bank, HFC, delivered around F$50 million profit in 2025 and has seen its asset base grow to F$2.4 billion by trying to differentiate itself from its competitors.
“We can’t tackle the international banks head on,” observes CEO Rakesh Ram. “Absolute relationship banking is the solution.” This is involves adding value to the bank’s clients, with 60 per cent of bank staff customer-facing, having quick turnaround times because all its decisions can be made locally.
While Fiji may have a market in which only around 600,000 people are bankable, Ram says “we focus on quality rather than quantity.”
While HFC maintains a branch network and recently opened a new branch in Pacific Harbour, Ram says the bank is seeing the benefit of its investment in digital services.
Expansion
Beyond the commercial banks, there is plenty of opportunity for finance companies in Fiji as well, especially in the SME sector.
“Last year presented some good opportunities in the asset finance space, which we capitalised on,” observes Mohammed Nawaz, Country Manager of leading finance company Credit Corporation (Fiji) Pte Ltd. “That gave us strong portfolio growth of 39 per cent in our loan book and an 11 per cent increase in profit.”
As well as competitive interest rates, Credit Corporation’s result has been in part helped by a larger footprint, with its office in Labasa having completed a full year in operation.
Moving ahead, the company is investing in an upgrade of its digital systems and will soon move its Nakasi branch to a larger premises to accommodate further growth.
This article appears in the 2026/27 edition of Business Advantage Fiji published in August 2026. Read the full edition here.
