Banking became the first industry to become fully living wage accredited in July. Seventeen members of the New Zealand Bankers’ Association pledged to pay staff and contractors (including cleaners and security guards) at least a living wage. An estimated 1800 people received a pay rise as a result.
Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said it was “a complex area”.
New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said: “This is a complex area. We will consider the consultation paper to determine our response on behalf of the industry.”
The pilot was being led by the New Zealand Bankers’ Association and included six major banks which would test demand for basic banking services in regional communities.
Ministry of Justice
“What a hub environment like this can help some customers with is that transition to online and understand it’s OK. It’s safe and it’s not that scary.”
The NZBA revealed that over two-thirds of consumer loans that had principal and interest repayments deferred due to the impact of the pandemic were now “back to normal,” and nearly 40% of consumer loans that had reduced repayments were also now back on track.
Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said trial regions were chosen on a range of criteria. “Some of that is geographic spread, so there’s two in the South Island and two in the North Island, and then we wanted to test different scenarios – scenarios where there was still one bank on town remaining, and also where there hadn’t been a bank in town for a year or two.”
More than two-thirds of mortgage and personal loans that had principal and interest repayments deferred due to the impact of Covid-19 were now “back to normal”, says the New Zealand Bankers’ Association.
More than two thirds of consumer loans that had principal and interest repayments deferred due to the impact of Covid-19 were now ‘back to normal’ said the New Zealand Bankers’ Association today.
At the same time, nearly 40% of consumer loans that had reduced repayments were now back on track.
“As we near the end of this extraordinary year it’s great to see that people who took up offers to defer or reduce their loan repayments are now getting back on track,” says New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont.
“Nearly 70% of deferred consumer and business loans are back to full repayments. People who reduced their repayments to get through are also making good progress.
“This shows that people who took loan deferrals, or reduced their repayments, understand why it’s a good thing to restart repayments if they can. It also shows how banks are working proactively with affected customers to support them through tough times.
“Banks will continue to work with affected customers to help get them back on track.”
As of 31 October:
- 69% of consumer loans (including home loans) that had deferred all repayments were back to full repayments
- 37% of consumer loans that had reduced repayments were back to full repayments
- 69% of business loans that had deferred all repayments were back to full repayments
- 50% of business loans that had reduced payments were back to full repayments.
In March, in consultation with the government, the Reserve Bank and credit reporting agencies, all New Zealand retail banks offered loan deferrals for up to six months and reduced loan repayments to customers financially impacted by the Covid-19 global pandemic. In August, the option of deferring loan repayments was extended to 31 March 2021.
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