“We look forward to seeing the detail of what’s being proposed in this complex area. We’d be happy to engage in any consultation that results from this policy proposal,” said Roger Beaumont, chief executive of the NZ Bankers’ Association.
Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said he “looked forward to seeing the detail of what’s being proposed in this complex area. We’d be happy to engage in any consultation that results from this policy proposal.”
The Code of Banking Practice is now available in six other commonly used languages the New Zealand Bankers’ Association announced today.
“We wanted to make the Code more widely available, and that includes to people who don’t speak English as their first language. That’s why we’ve translated the Code into te reo Māori, Samoan, Tongan, simplified Chinese, Hindi and Korean,” says New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont.
“The Code tells you what you can expect from your bank. It sets out five high level commitments that banks make to their customers. We’d like as many people as possible to know about this.”
Under the Code banks agree to:
- Treat customers fairly and reasonably
- Communicate with customers clearly and effectively
- Respect customers’ privacy and confidentiality and keep their banking systems secure
- Act responsibly if they offer or provide customers with credit
- Deal effectively with customer concerns and complaints.
The Code translations are available on the NZBA website here:
https://www.nzba.org.nz/consumer-information/code-banking-practice/code-of-banking-practice/
Links to translations (printable PDF documents):
The deferred loan figures come from the New Zealand Bankers’ Association (NZBA). For consumer lending these show 88,558 customers making reduced loan repayments on loans valued at $27.5 billion. Another 61,063 customers had deferred payments on all loans to the value of $20.9 billion. These consumer lending figures, as of July 31, cover home loans, personal lending, credit cards and arranged overdrafts.
New Zealand Bankers’ Association Roger Beaumont said that the Ministry of Health’s order for August “did not technically allow banks to open branches to serve customers”.
The New Zealand Bankers Association says since March 26, when New Zealand first went into lockdown, banks have deferred all repayments on consumer loans totalling around $21 billion for over 61,000 customers. That represents 7% of total consumer lending.
The New Zealand Bankers’ Association has welcomed the government’s latest changes to the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme as they support the supply of credit to businesses in need.
New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said banks had taken on staff earlier in the year to cope with rising compliance costs.
The New Zealand Bankers’ Association said banks had been informed that a Reserve Bank application to allow them to open had been declined and had shut their doors.
The New Zealand Bankers’ Association today welcomed further changes to the government’s Business Finance Guarantee Scheme.
“We think expanding the criteria should make it more relevant for businesses in need at this time,” says New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont.
“Changes that will help include extending the loan maximum from $500,000 to $5 million, and the loan term from three to five years. Allowing more businesses with revenue up to $200 million to apply will also help scheme take up.
“Widening the scheme criteria further supports the supply of credit to businesses in need. Uptake will ultimately be driven by demand from businesses. We encourage businesses looking to borrow to talk to their bank about their eligibility to borrow under the scheme.”
The scheme, which was launched in April, makes available up to $6.25 billion in lending to eligible businesses. Under the scheme bank loans are supported by a guarantee in a risk-sharing agreement with the government. The government covers 80 per cent of the risk and banks cover 20 per cent.
The Business Finance Guarantee Scheme is one way in which banks are currently supporting businesses. Other ways include:
- Restructuring loans to reduce repayments, for example extending the term of the loan, temporarily moving to interest only repayments, and in some cases deferring all repayments temporarily
- Providing new business loans
- Deferring mortgage repayments
- Consolidating loans to help make repayments more manageable
- Providing access to short-term funding.
Since New Zealand first went into lockdown on 26 March banks have approved loans to businesses totalling almost $15 billion.
More information about the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme is available at:
ENDS