IT may be a kind of compliment to Susan Rice’s achievements at Lloyds TSB Scotland that new banking competitors are coming into the Scottish market.

Rice, who is just beginning her seventh year as chief executive of the Edinburgh-based bank, has seen the turnover of Lloyds TSB Scotland more than double in her time there and the contribution that the Scottish bank makes to the parent group is greater both in turnover and profit terms. In 2000, Lloyds TSB Scotland’s profit was £86.3 million, rising to £100.6m in 2004. In the first-half of 2006 alone, profit was £70.9m.

“The first six months of this year is the best first half we have ever had,” Rice says, before going on to say that might not continue. This tempering of her natural American confidence perhaps suggests that she is being influenced by her Scottish environment – she has lived here for a decade now after all.

But she is justifiably happy with the Scottish bank’s growth as she points out that on some measures Lloyds TSB Scotland is not just the third-placed bank but is actually second, not bad for being another player in a market shared with the giants of Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS.

Rice maintains that the fact that her bank is smaller is actually an advantage. “Because of the size that we are we can talk to each other across the businesses and silos all the time,” she says. “It’s not just the case of in a bigger group where you nod to each other at a business conference and that is really all you can do.”

But while the bank is small, it has, says Rice, really carved out a place for itself in the business banking market in Scotland. She says that Lloyds TSB is so established on the corporate side that it is now being asked to tender for deals that at one time it would not have been considered for.

As Rice puts it: “We are also finding ourselves in the lead position with a lot of our corporate customers and that’s very gratifying.”

Within the past year, the bank has funded oil company Cairn’s expansion in Rajahstan to the tune of $100m, a £30m distribution deal between Scottish & Newcastle and Fosters and jointly funded, with the Royal Bank of Scotland, Johnston Press’s £160m takeover of Scotsman Publications.

Rice is described by a close associate as “a big picture person, a good communicator who is well respected in the business community”.

But how much does she – a former American university dean – get down to the detail of the day-to-day running of the bank? When I ask if she sees herself as akin to the conductor of an orchestra, she pauses and suggests that lead violin might be a closer analogy to what she does.

“I don’t try and run the businesses for my managers but I do keep very much in touch with what is happening in each of the business streams,” she says.

She does this by both looking at the numbers and constantly talking to lead managers and their immediate subordinates. She also regularly tours Lloyds TSB branches and offices throughout Scotland.

She says: “When I visit a branch, I talk to all the staff in it and, if they have the time, customers as well, to get a real sense of how the business is doing in that area and what the issues are.”

This gives her a clearer idea not just of her business, she says, but of its wider economic backdrop. She adds: “The Scottish economy has been holding its own over the past 18 months.”

Often, Scotland trails the UK and certainly London and the southeast in productivity but that has not been the case recently, which is another reason that other banks are looking to move into or boost their investment in the Scottish market.

Previously, banking competitors have been what Rice calls the “monoline players”, banks from outside, such as MBNA, doing just credit cards and linked loans. But the competitive landscape is about to change with new players coming in with a wider offering.

Two weeks ago the Sunday Herald revealed that Barclays Bank is expanding in Scotland with the launch of two new commercial operations. HSBC has also been stepping up its business banking in Scotland.

Rice says: “I welcome the competition. I think it just makes us stronger.”

“I also think there is more growth to be had for us in Scotland. There are more hills to climb and we’re not there yet. It’s certainly hard work. You can never stop because the competition is so fierce.”

Rice has a straight talking but far from aggressive style. Her experience as a university dean even saw her “entering the lion’s den” to talk to a group of protesting students.

She does not shrink from tough challenges, such as the issue of bank charges for exceeding overdrafts, which many people regard as excessive.

She says: “We do have a contractual arrangement with our customers. They do undertake to keep an account in good order.

“It’s also important that customers are encouraged to run their accounts responsibly.”

Rice adds to her knowledge of the economy and the wider business environment a series of outside activities, including a role as non-executive director of Scottish & Southern Energy. She says: “I’ve been on the board there for about three years. It give me a very different perspective on business.”

Under her leadership, one of the ways that Lloyds TSB Scotland has sought to boost its brand is through a series of heavy hitting sponsorship tie-ups in the arts and sports. The bank funded a series of affordable concerts during the Edinburgh Festival, which aimed to introduce classical music to a wider audience.

Her interest in the visual arts has also led to high-profile sponsorship of exhibitions such as Rembrandt’s Women at the Scottish National Gallery, Glasgow’s Whistler exhibition, he Mario Testino retrospective, as well as the Age Of Titian and the Icons Of American Art shows.

Her love of literature has spurred her to chair the board of the Edinburgh International Book Festival and she has also recently joined the advisory board of the Said Business School, something she was asked to do after she delivered a guest lecture on leadership there.

One of her major interests is in the field of financial and social exclusion. She is a founding member of the board of Charity Bank, a not-for-profit agency aiming to fund charities and voluntary groups. She also chairs the board of the Scottish Centre for Research on Social Justice and has served on the Financial Services Advisory Board.

Of this she says: “If you have been reasonably successful in life you want to give something back.”

Rice would probably pooh pooh the suggestion, but she is also one half of one of Scotland’s most influential couples: husband Duncan is principal and civic chancellor of Aberdeen university.

Rice has come a long way since arrived from America, landing in Scotland with no job to go to. Indeed so much has she given to her adopted country that she received a CBE.

Six years in post this month, Rice says: “There is still a lot to do.” But she says that some time she will be looking to move on, looking for a new challenge.

Is there another big job in store for the first woman chief executive of a UK clearing bank?