Briefs: Newcastle on-boards tech, Defence Bank rating stable 31 March 2020 5:19PM Banking Day staff Briefs, Appointments, Australian-owned Bank, Authorised deposit-taking institutions, Defence Bank, Greater Newcastle Group, Other topics, Ratings agencies, Standard & Poors Newcastle Permanent said it appointed two new directors. Both are women, meaning the majority of board members are female at the sole remaining building society in Australia. Karina Kwan, a former senior finance manager at CBA and Citi has several fintech connections, including Split Payments and Kyckr. Nicki Page is the former CEO of Breeze and MOQdigital. Standard and Poor's affirmed the credit rating of Defence Bank at BBB (long-term) and A2 (short-term). CEO David Marshall plausibly said the bank - a bonded mutual ADI serving one of the most stable employment cohorts around - "is extremely well positioned to withstand the current challenges and today's announcement from S&P is significant tangible evidence of that." Over the last 12 months the bank reported asset growth by 2.5 times greater than system, and there won't be many in that category in the year ahead.