- “In recent years we have seen bank teams tied up with significant regulatory requirements, limiting the ability to focus on new product development. We hope the Commerce Commission will look closely at the regulatory environment as part of its study.”
- “We believe the inquiry will ease any concerns in the community about competition and innovation in the banking industry,” he said. “We have a competitive banking sector, with 16 retail banks operating in New Zealand and easy bank switching.”
- “Switching banks is easy. Your new bank can arrange everything including transferring your funds from your old bank and setting up your recurring payments to your new accounts. This can be done within five working days, and you don’t even need to talk to your old bank,” says Beaumont.
- “The industry would welcome the opportunity to discuss bank profits and the contribution banks make to support the New Zealand economy, households and businesses,” Beaumont said at the time.
- Credit bureau Centrix’s latest data indicated mortgage arrears rose for the seventh consecutive month, with just under 19,000 people behind on repayments, which equated to 1.3 percent of mortgages, while the Bankers Association reported nearly 45 percent of mortgage holders were ahead on their repayments at the end of 2022.
- The New Zealand Banking Association submitted in 2019 that gambling providers and their customers could also circumvent that measure, for example by accepting and making deposits using other international payment services such as PayPal, WeChat and AliPay.
- “Due to a range of issues, primarily low seismic building ratings that would put staff and customers at risk in case of an earthquake, we have not been able to secure a suitable location.”
- “Our banks are part of the communities they serve and responded quickly as the flooding and cyclone events unfolded, making $1.4 billion available in low-cost lending, and donating $6.5 million to disaster relief funds. They also provided loan repayment relief and access to term deposits.”
