“Banks have invested heavily in the development of APIs to make open banking a reality,” he said, noting the regulations had landed just six weeks before Dec 1.”

In its application, the banking association says Armourguard had begun exercising “behaviour that would not be expected in a workably competitive market”.

The NZBA report found 40% of home loan customers are making more than their minimum repayments, while only 1.5% are behind on payments.

A quarter of all new home loans went to first home buyers in the first half of this year, data from the New Zealand Banking Association’s retail insights show.

“Many of our banks now have dedicated teams who can help customers experiencing this kind of difficulty. We can always do better, and the reviews will help us focus on how we can do that.”

The NZ Banking Association agreed with removal of AT1 for its 17 member banks, being those defined as Groups 1 and 2 by RBNZ and each having total assets of, respectively, $100b-plus and $2b-$100b.

Banking Association CEO Roger Beaumont says this is really good – and will give first-home buyers more flexibility. “They’re taking advantage of what I’d call the ‘sweet spot’ of softer house prices, combined with declining interest rates.”

The NZBA data also showed that 40% of home-loan customers were paying more than their minimum repayments, while 1.5% were behind.

“The decline in retail interest rates is definitely helping reduce financial pressure for many people with home loans,” he said. “That’s especially true for borrowers on floating rates, and will assist those on fixed rates as those loans come up for renewal.”

“Despite the challenging economic conditions, we’re seeing most customers continuing to manage their money well,” NZBA Chief Executive Roger Beaumont said.