Australia's fifth largest retail bank, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, held its AGM yesterday in regional Victoria.Against what he called "a very difficult year for the banking industry", chairman Robert Johanson was keen to spell out the solid full year result for 2017/18. Total cash earnings were A$445.1 million, up 6.4 per cent on the 2016/17 year, cash earnings per share were 92 cents per share, up by 4.1 per cent, and dividends totalled 70 cents, up by 2 cents.Then he moved quickly into a theme that the smaller banks have been re-iterating every chance they get: competitionIn this regard, Johanson commented that a report by the Productivity Commission into competition in financial services has not attracted the same headlines as the Royal Commission, "but its analysis of the harm to the Australian economy as a result of the competitive disadvantage suffered by non-major banks and service providers is, we think, very important." "Indeed, we would say that one of the fundamental causes of the current crisis in financial services in Australia is the lack of true competition in Australian banking that has allowed the major banks to focus so much on shareholder returns at the expense of customers." "If trust in banking is to be restored, it is crucial that organisations with different objectives and standards are able to compete on a level playing field and customers can choose accordingly," he said.The other big theme covered by the chairman and Marnie Baker, the bank's newly appointed managing director, was the increasing digital capacity of the bank: Except for Bendigo it seems, with BEN's managing director, Marnie Baker - in her first AGM since taking over from longstanding CEO Mike Hirst in July, observing that "when trust in the banking industry is at an all-time low, [there] is the recent net trust score released from Roy Morgan which lists us as the most trusted bank in Australia, and in the top 10 most trusted brands in Australia across all industries, not just banking.""We are also focused on changing the current perception that it is too hard to switch banks, that alternatives like Bendigo and Adelaide Bank don't have the capability of the Big Four banks, are not innovative and are behind in technology," she said.  All of which is not true.   "Customers now expect to be able to transact with us instantly, from wherever in the world they are, with trust and confidence," Baker said. "We've invested in Tic:Toc which is a purely online home loan application and approval system: you can get a loan approved within 22 minutes. "And our digital bank, Up, is Australia's first all-in-app bank," she asserted.The meeting re-elected Vicki Carter and Tony Robinson  to the Board. The meeting passed all resolutions and the Remuneration Report.