- “Scams go much wider than our industry, affecting government agencies, telcos, social media companies, and internet service providers. An anti-scam centre would provide a centralised and co-ordinated multi-sector approach to fighting scams from a New Zealand-wide perspective,” Beaumont said.
- “Without retrospective change, there is a real risk that a minor error in disclosure, which has no borrower impact and does not reflect irresponsible or poor lending practices, will have serious consequences,” the NZBA submission said.
- The seven hubs are part of a trial by the New Zealand Banking Association to find a new approach to providing banking services in rural areas. Six banks are involved – ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, TSB and Westpac.
- “Every time there’s a change, banks need to adjust their lending policies and processes and re-train staff. Part of developing quality regulation is making sure it’s fit for purpose the first time around.”
- New Zealand Banking Association chief executive Roger Beaumont told NZ Adviser that the drop in the number of new home loans was a likely reflection of the state of the housing market and wider economic conditions during the first half of 2023.
- “For a long time, when interest rates were at an historic low, people who relied on income from bank deposits got relatively low returns. Now that interest rates are up, people are investing more in term deposits.”
- “Over 43% of home loan customers were ahead on their loan repayments, compared to 1.4% of home loan customers behind on their repayments. That shows that many people with home loans are managing relatively well. It means that those paying more than their minimum repayments likely built in a cushion in case their circumstances change.”
- The NZ Banking Association said last week that the industry was focusing on a number of initiatives to fight fraud and scams, including real-time information sharing between organisations affected by scams, and a confirmation of payee account name checking service.
- According to the New Zealand Banking Association, banks have made significant investments when it comes to fraud analytics and prevention. These investments aim to help identify unusual spending on credit cards and check with customers before processing those payments, as well as warn of potential scams when customers make payments in suspicious circumstances.
- As part of the banking industry’s Friday announcement, the NZBA said the industry supported a national anti-scam centre, would remove hyperlinks from text messages and would work together to freeze mule accounts, used to siphon stolen money from victims.
