Steve Targett believes the credit unions and building societies that have upgraded to mutual bank licences over the past couple of years have yet to get a financial return on their investment."One benefit is that it is easier to explain the idea of a mutual bank to a prospective customer than to explain what a credit union is," said Targett."But, looking at the industry, it looks as though mutual banks are yet to get a return."Targett has some ideas about how to do this and he will soon get his chance; he is leaving his position as head of Unicredit to become the chief executive of QT Mutual Bank.Targett is best known in banking circles for his role as head of institutional banking at ANZ. Since leaving ANZ, in 2007, he has worked at Beirut Hellenic Bank and, since early last year, at Unicredit.QT Mutual Bank is a bigger institution than Unicredit, and Targett believes it has the potential to grow.Its banking licence and its credit rating give it access to the investor market. "We will be looking at setting up funding programs to increase our lending capacity," he said.He will also be looking for merger opportunities. Targett believes mutuals are no different from other financial institutions in needing to grow. "It is a numbers game. Year on year, your cost base goes up, and it is a low-growth environment."He conceded that mutuals had lost some of their competitive advantage in recent years; banks have matched them on fees and charges, and also in their commitment to community programs.One area where mutuals still have an advantage is in customer satisfaction.Targett said: "We have to maintain that advantage, and to do that we have to be spot-on in terms of our relationship management. We have to execute our business as well as we can, to retain customers and sell them more of our products."