Opinions

Opinions

What you can expect from your bank

- Antony Buick-Constable, Deputy Chief Executive Most of us have bank accounts. If you do, it’s worth checking out the revised Code of Banking Practice that was launched on 1 June 2018. Your bank wants you to have a good experience, and the latest Code shows you how they’ll do it. Banking is all about meeting customer needs... Read more »
Opinions

Code of Banking Practice breaks new ground

- Karen Scott-Howman Published in KPMG’s Financial Institutions Performance Survey Review of 2017, 14 February 2018 Trust and confidence are watchwords for the banking industry the world over. The banking environment in New Zealand is different from other countries. We did not experience bank failures or bailouts in the GFC, nor the conduct scandals seen in... Read more »
Opinions

How should your bank treat you?

- Karen Scott-Howman Published in Stuff BusinessDay, 18 July 2017 In 1992 two things happened that changed banking in New Zealand for good. In that year the Banking Ombudsman was established and the Code of Banking Practice was first published. Unless you’ve had a problem with your bank, you might not think much of this. So... Read more »
Opinions

Customers drive banking innovation

- Karen Scott-Howman Published in Stuff BusinessDay, 16 January 2017  “The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad,” said the Michigan Savings Bank president in 1903. He was advising Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Company. Where bankers may once have shunned technology, the... Read more »
Opinions

Resilient banks, a resilient economy

- Published in KPMG’s Financial Institutions Performance Survey 2015, 24 February 2016 In the past year New Zealand’s economy has faced numerous challenges – dairy prices fell, commodity prices decreased, growth in China slowed, and the housing market remained constrained as demand continued to outstrip supply – yet New Zealand’s banking sector remains stable. How have... Read more »
Opinions

Banking fraud or online scam?

- Published in Stuff BusinessDay, October 1, 2015 So you received an email from a Nigerian princess who told you the sorry tale of her father who was martyred for his religious beliefs. She desperately needed to get his millions out of the country before the corrupt government seized his estate. If she could use your... Read more »
Opinions

Navigating bumps in the dairy sector

- The downturn in the dairy sector has been widely reported. There has also been a lot of speculation about the gravity of the situation and how bad it will get. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As is the case with a lot of other industries, the dairy sector can be volatile and complex, and... Read more »
Opinions

Profitability underpins economic growth

- Published in KPMG’s Financial Institutions Performance Survey 2014 – 25 February 2015 Bank profits routinely attract attention in New Zealand. The numbers are not inconsiderable with an industry total of around $4.8 billion in 2014. Banks often face the question – are they making too much money? Some commentators argue that any profits made by... Read more »
Opinions

Money and me: Kirk Hope

- Published in The New Zealand Herald, January 7, 2015 (p B19) What does money mean to you? Careful investment means you and your family can have a wider range of choices in the way that you live your life. That involves understanding the risks you are willing to take with money and making sure that... Read more »