Heritage Bank is continuing with a broker-led lending revival, though one that's off the pace on asset growth.Heritage issued a media release yesterday with details of its financial results for 2015/16 but did not issue a full financial report.The mutual bank's net profit for the six months to December 2016 was A$20.9 million, an increase of 17 per cent. This was "a record half-year profit", it said. The result was "aided by proceeds from the sale of Heritage's financial planning business to Bridges Financial Services in December, but underlying profit remained ahead of the same period the previous year," Peter Lock, chief executive of the bank, said.Loan approvals for the half were $1.1 billion, an increase of 39 per cent on the level for the same period in 2015.  Heritage's total loan portfolio grew by $299 million, or a below system four per cent, to reach $7.4 billion.An overhaul of its ageing, DIY core banking system is a strategic priority for Heritage Bank, and one that has its custodians agitating for law reform that would allow it to issue tier one capital.Lock said the bank aimed to "unscramble" a locally developed banking platform and make it more versatile to allow for a program of "digital" investments.Lock said the board considered a complete replacement of the system, a project that required a budget in the order of A$100 million."We now think there's a better way."Lock said Heritage's association with KPMG's mLabs program (one that's drawn the bank and several more customer-owned financial institutions toward 14 fintech start-up companies) had shaped its thinking."It's opened our minds, through a micro services approach to the problem," he said."We own our core. We unscramble it, take out the core and build an API environment for probably half the cost. We'll start that now."?The bank is pondering the best options to fund this and other investments.In the media release Lock and Heritage complained of "systemic constraints on the mutual sector that the Federal Government now had the blueprint to overcome. "The Senate Inquiry into Cooperatives, Mutuals and Member-Owned Firms delivered a report in March last year that outlined how to improve our competitiveness.  The Senate Economics References Committee included a recommendation that "APRA set a target date for the outcome of discussions with the co-operative and mutuals sector on issues of capital raising and bring those discussions to a timely conclusion."Lock explained that "we want mutual ADIs to be able to raise tier one capital.""The blueprint to fix the systemic barriers is there - all the Federal Government has to do is implement those reforms."