Melbourne mutual bankmecu says it is coping with a fresh squeeze on margins Yesterday, the bank published highlights of its December 2011 half-year, including a 23 per cent rise in net profit to $12.2 million. The return on assets for bankmecu is close to one per cent, which is above the industry average.The bank's interest margin fell to 2.70 per cent, from 2.77 per cent, over 12 months.Bankmecu reported annualised loan growth of six per cent and deposit growth of eight per cent for the halfDamien Walsh, managing director of the mutual bank, said of the present trading conditions, "We are in a low credit growth environment. There is heightened competition for deposits, so a margin squeeze is the order of the day."Asked about bankmecu's approach to the shift in its payment switching to Cuscal and away from First Data - a task facing many credit unions this year - Walsh said: "We are happy with the revised time-line Cuscal has presented. They've identified the risks and systems issues."Walsh said bankmecu had no fixed date for its migration but (again, like all credit unions making the move) this would be in the second half of the year.Asked about the rationale for the mutual bank's choice of adopting the Cuscal switch, Walsh said: "We are an owner of Cuscal; we are quite a significant owner."We feel it's important to us in the collective endeavour to support Cuscal in its role."