Media Releases

Spring clean your personal finances

August 31, 2012 - Money Week is a great time to spring clean your personal financial arrangements says the New Zealand Bankers’ Association. Money Week brings together a range of financial education activities from 2 to 8 September. “Most people think about their personal finances when faced with big life events such as studying, starting work, buying a house... Read more »

Report finds NZ banks continue to perform well

August 31, 2012 - The New Zealand Bankers’ Association said today that PwC’s Banking Perspectives analysis of the major banks’ results for the first half of their 2012 financial years showed New Zealand banks were continuing to perform well in the face of ongoing global uncertainty. “Our banking industry is in good shape. It’s well capitalised and regulated. Our... Read more »

Email scam alert

August 20, 2012 - The New Zealand Bankers’ Association is urging the public to be on guard against an email scam. Scammers are sending emails out which appear to come from a New Zealand Bankers’ Association email address: nzba@nzba.org.nz. The scam emails include a subject line of “We are necessitating a verification process on all account(s)”. Anyone receiving this... Read more »

Bankers’ Association welcomes reduced business costs

August 7, 2012 - The New Zealand Bankers’ Association welcomes the recent introduction of the Financial Reporting Bill by Commerce Minister Craig Foss. The Bill seeks to remove or reduce unnecessary and excessive reporting requirements. This will significantly cut costs for small and medium-sized companies. It will also further reduce barriers to doing business in New Zealand by better... Read more »

Get new Code of Banking Practice – Bankers’ Association

June 29, 2012 - The New Zealand Bankers’ Association has encouraged bank customers to have a look at the latest Code of Banking Practice, which comes into force on 1 July. Now in its fifth edition, the Code provides a useful guide for customers and their relationship with their banks. “The Code includes a whole lot of useful information... Read more »

Bankers’ Association applauds loan shark prosecution

June 28, 2012 - The New Zealand Bankers’ Association today applauded the prosecution of third tier lender Barry Hunt for breaches of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act. “This is a great result. We congratulate the Commerce Commission on a successful prosecution in this case,” said New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Kirk Hope. “At last year’s Financial... Read more »

Mortgagee sales less than 0.2% of all mortgagesT

June 12, 2012 - he New Zealand Bankers’ Association revealed today that the number of mortgagee sales was less than 0.2% of the total number of mortgages held by New Zealanders. In 2011 there were 2263 mortgagee sales, compared to over 1.2 million mortgages. “This is a tiny fraction of total mortgage numbers,” said New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief... Read more »

FMA levy misses the mark

June 6, 2012 - The New Zealand Bankers’ Association today expressed disappointment at the government’s announcement on the way it intends to levy the financial sector to fund the Financial Markets Authority. “Banks are well-regulated responsible lenders operating at the top end of the market. “The levies should better reflect the costs and benefits where they actually fall,” said... Read more »

Good public purse management keeps cost of credit down

May 24, 2012 - Prudent management of the public purse is essential to keeping down the cost of credit said the New Zealand Bankers’ Association today in response to Budget 2012. The Association supported moves to ensure borrowing costs for the government, householders and business owners do not increase unnecessarily. Initiatives that kept the NZ dollar at a realistic... Read more »

Flipside of interest rate cuts

May 22, 2012 - Recent cuts in fixed interest rates highlight the level of intense competition in the New Zealand banking sector. This is good news for borrowers, but will impact on returns for bank depositors. Interest rates are at historically low levels. This is due to a drop in wholesale interest rates as a result of ongoing uncertainty... Read more »