BNZ ‘ruthlessly vigilant’ in deserving trust, says boss

Bank, BNZ’S parent company.

Australia’s royal commission of inquiry into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry has heard about a range of misconduct from the major banks, including NAB financial planners falsifying documents.

Mentis said BNZ was not complacent about the issues, but that things were different here.

She had noticed differences since she came to New Zealand. The regulatory environment, business models and practices were not the same, she said.

‘‘There’s quite an openness of the New Zealand regulatory environment, which is a cultural hallmark.’’

She said BNZ received 0.7 complaints per 1000 customers and the number of complaints escalated by the Banking Ombudsman was also low.

She said BNZ’S bank advice force was not paid with commission, which removed some of the conflicts that led to bad behaviour in Australia. BNZ also did not have the vertically integrated model seen in Australia.

The bank would need to hold on to trust by focusing on customers, she said.

‘‘We’re not perfect and we will make mistakes ... we need to fix them and make the customer whole. That’s the only way to hold on to customer trust.’’

BNZ reported a profit of $490 million for the half-year to the end of March.

Mentis said that was pleasing and the deposit growth – up to $58 billion – showed Kiwis were saving more of their own money.