- Nearly 60,000 borrowers (59,885) had agreed to a deferral of payments on $20.2 billion of home loans, personal lending, credit card or overdraft debt as of June 30, figures from the New Zealand Bankers Association show.
- “As one of the largest industries in the country, we are showing leadership by committing to paying the living wage,” says New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont.
- According to the New Zealand Bankers’ Association (NZBA), the move will lead to nearly 1800 employees and contractors moving onto the living wage and gaining greater economic independence for them and their families.
- “Before making any decisions to extend mortgage deferrals banks will need to assess the customer need. It would also involve discussions with regulators and credit reporting agencies on any impact to responsible lending obligations and how the deferred loans are treated.”
- “Banks are seeing customers who have deferred or reduced payments restarting their normal payments. That means people know what’s available when it comes to loan relief, and they also know why it’s a good idea to restart payments if they can.”
- According to the New Zealand Bankers Association a total of 66,870 customers with loans totalling $21.3 billion had reduced their loan repayments since March 26, and a further 55,406 with combined loans of $19.5b had deferred all their loan repayments.
- Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said “mortgage deferrals could provide borrowers financially affected by Covid-19 with immediate relief at an uncertain time.
- Beaumont said before making any decisions to extend mortgage deferrals banks would need to assess the customer need. “It would also involve discussions with regulators and credit reporting agencies on any impact to responsible lending obligations and how the deferred loans are treated.”
- The BFGS lending is also dwarfed by other bank lending to businesses since March 26 when the nation went into lockdown to prevent the spread of covid-19. Banks have lent $12.6 billion in new loans to 21,875 businesses between then and June 30. That’s up from $7 billion on May 26.
- Kiwibank chief executive Steve Jurkovich has been appointed the new chair of the New Zealand Bankers’ Association. He will be taking over from Westpac CEO David McLean, who chaired the NZBA for three years.
