Month: May 2024

“For those reasons, we believe regional New Zealand is better off if banks maintain their current branch networks for three years, instead of closing regional branches and replacing some of those branches with an alternative, such as hubs.”

The New Zealand Banking Association has been trialling hubs providing a smart ATM – putting operations for all banks at one location. The Association says it showed locals preferred to still use a single brand bank – rather than the hub.

Beaumont said banks invested an “enormous” amount back into their business, paid billions in tax and employed 27,000 people.

But the association also said while banks will support their customers, lending to businesses is usually riskier than housing, which is why companies, including farmers, tend to pay higher interest rates than homeowners.

Together with the New Zealand Banking Association, New Zealand’s retail banks are working towards a new Confirmation of Payee system, which is one way they aim to reduce the number of payments made to fraudulent bank accounts and help people avoid making payments to the wrong account.

In its own submission, the NZ Bankers Association, representing the major banks, said the increase in capital requirements were “a significant factor” in interest rates being higher on average for farm loans than for residential mortgages.