Bank of Queensland is ready to invest in disruptive technologies, the bank's chief investment officer Julie Bale has told iTnews. Bale joined the bank two years ago and has overhauled much of the back office. Her aim has been to cut the cost of IT operations and free up capital for investment. She said the basics were fixed and now the bank was looking at payments innovation, straight through processing and digital banking. Fixed income dealer and corporate bond arranger FIIG has joined forces with Mark Carnege's venture capital business, MH Carnegie & Co, to establish Alternative Debt Services, the Australian Financial Review reported. ADS will structure senior, junior and mezzanine debt for small corporates. The partners told the AFR they could see a gap in the market, where the banks and bond market did not offer finance options for business