Westpac's strategies to boost revenue will be put to a test during the first quarter as the bank seeks a larger market share, particularly deposits, small-to-medium business loans and wealth management. The results of said strategies will be disclosed by CEO Gail Kelly in May as she reports the company's first-half profit amidst a weaker banking environment.

The strategies will serve as blueprint for the new Australian financial services unit of Westpac that will handle the bulk of the lender's retail banking and wealth businesses.

Peter Hanlon, one of Westpac's senior officials, will oversee the new unit which will include St George, Westpac retail brands and BT Wealth.

"Accepting the fact there is low growth in some areas there's two things we can do - look for areas of higher growth and look for areas where we are under-penetrated," BusinessDay quoted Mr Hanlon.

"I look at these other product sets because that to me is where the revenue is going to come from," he added.

Home mortgages are down for the second consecutive month and analysts forecast slow credit growth in the next few years resulting from the global financial crisis which led to weaker consumer and business confidence.

Targets set by Westpac include retain 24 to 26 per cent share of the mortgage market, improve deposit share to 20 per cent and boost share of small- and medium-sized loans to 25 per cent.

Westpac also aims to snare 15 per cent of the $1.3-trillion superannuation and investment market in the long term from its current 5 per cent share. Mr Hanlon estimates the bank would need five to seven years to achieve that goal.

The lender had axed some positions and moved some tasks overseas, but would continue to make more manpower changes in the future. Mr Hanlon hinted that the staff in Westpac's more than 1,000 branches would focus on growth areas such as wealth management and business development.

On Monday, Westpac announced that it is securing a licence to operate in India to provide the banking needs of Australian companies that are operate in the south Asian nation, particularly food and mining firms.

Among the big 4, Westpac has the smallest international exposure because it has focused mainly on the domestic market.

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