The South Australian Government says it has lured 200 new finance sector jobs to Adelaide, showing the state is a competitive place to do business.
At a time when a proposed state levy on five big banks was announced as part of the recent SA budget, Investment Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith said a $900,000 grant had attracted the 200 jobs.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, in conjunction with another firm, Tic Toc, will process online home loans at an expanded operation in the Adelaide CBD.
Mr Hamilton-Smith said business costs were competitive in SA.
"South Australia is a really competitive place for businesses like this in the high-tech space," he said.
"You can set up in South Australia far less expensively than Sydney or Melbourne — your money goes a lot further here."
While the Opposition Liberals have vowed to block the planned bank levy, Westpac's regional subsidiary Bank SA has blamed the proposed measure for shelving its own jobs expansion.
Tic Toc proudly South Australian
Tic Toc chief executive Anthony Baum said he was a proud South Australian who wanted to grow the business at home.
"The beauty of being a digital business is we can base ourselves anywhere in Australia and deliver the same great service to all our Australian customers," he said.
The Australian Bankers Association said the proposed state levy on the big four banks and Macquarie, intended to raise about $370 million over four years, would be an "outrageous cash grab".
But Mr Hamilton-Smith said the banking lobby had made claims which failed to stand up to scrutiny.
"In the past fortnight we've seen big and costly campaigns from the banks claiming the lights are out in SA, that there's no investment here," he said.
"Today's announcement is yet another example that shows this campaign has absolutely no foundation and shows yet again the level of innovation coming out of this state."
The planned state levy on big banks seems unlikely to be passed by the Upper House of State Parliament because of the combined force of the Liberals and several minor party members.
