Auswide rebrands, gets upgrade 04 June 2015 4:41PM Bernard Kellerman In a vindication of the argument run by the mutuals sector in favour of adding the word "Bank" to a mutual's name to improve its funding prospects, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Auswide Bank (formerly the Wide Bay Australia building society). "The revision of the outlook to stable from negative reflects our opinion that business growth prospects for Auswide have improved following a return to positive lending growth and a reduced decline in customer numbers," said S&P's credit analyst Michael Puli."Underpinning much of the improved outcomes, in our opinion, has been the rollout of a refreshed business strategy that has led to a significant investment in information technology, yielding improved efficiencies and a rebalancing of distribution channels through which the bank chooses to do business - particularly via third-party brokers." "In our opinion, Auswide's transition to a registered bank in early 2015 is an important factor that supports our expectations for improved business growth over the next 12-24 months. We see rebranding as key to enhancing brand recognition and perceived resilience of Auswide to successfully attract new customers."Although the marketing 'honeymoon' benefit associated with the rebranding may dissipate over time, we expect an overall positive impact for the bank's growth prospects," S&P concluded.