Last week, the New Zealand Banking Association (NZBA) criticised RBNZ’s proposals for a minimum cash-services standard as “extreme” and labelled it a “back-to-the-future solution”.

New Zealand Banking Association chief executive Roger Beaumont told NewstalkZB that the consultation’s content was “completely out of the blue”.

New Zealand Banking Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said customers would carry the cost of the “extreme” and “back to the future” measures the Reserve Bank wanted to take.

Earlier, Banking Association CEO Roger Beaumont told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking the “curious” proposal had come “completely out of the blue. It’s kind of back to the future. It’s almost like Sport New Zealand demanding that jazzercise and leg warmers make a comeback without any appreciation of customer preferences, let alone demand,” he said.

But Banking Association Chief Executive Roger Beaumont told Mike Hosking customers are moving towards digital payment methods.  He says they’re using apps or online banking, rather than going to punch in a pin at an ATM to buy an ice-cream from the dairy.

“Banks agree that cash use should be preserved for those customers who need it, but this proposal is extreme. This is a back to the future solution,” he said.

“Demanding the provision of 3,000 bank-more branches and ATMs when there simply isn’t the need for them will ultimately increase the cost of banking for all New Zealanders,” said Beaumont.

Roger Beaumont, the CEO of the New Zealand Banking Association spoke to Guyon Espiner.

“A real back to the future move by the Reserve Bank, and it flies in the face of how customers are choosing to do their banking, which is increasingly digitally.”

Governance and Administration Committee (more…)