Author: Philip vanDyk

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.

“Rolling out confirmation-of-payee is not as simple as flicking a switch. Broadly speaking there are two main phases involved. First, we need to build a solution and ensure it works technically with our current payments system and complies with banks’ privacy and confidentiality obligations. Once we have that, banks then individually need to implement changes… Read more »

The New Zealand banking sector says it now has a preferred provider for setting up confirmation of payee, a key part of its response to the burgeoning problem of scams.

Beaumont said there was also a role for telecommunications companies, social media websites and search engines in helping combat scams. “To take the centre to the next level, we’ve asked the government for operational support by involving the police and other relevant agencies.”

“This is something that takes time, it has been progressed since we announced that in September – and we’re moving at that pace.”