BNZ vigilant for trust’s sake, says boss

Bank of New Zealand’s new chief executive says the bank will be ‘‘ruthlessly vigilant’’ in ensuring customers’ trust in it is well placed.

Angie Mentis took up the New Zealand role after a stint as chief customer officer of business and private banking with National Australia 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 for their customers.

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 escalated by the Banking Ombudsman was 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.

The 50 bank-authorised financial advisers received a base salary and discretionary bonuses, she said. Those advisers were subject to Financial Markets Authority and internal oversight.

BNZ also did not have the vertically integrated model seen in Australia, she said.

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 that New Zealanders were increasingly saving more of their own money.

Mortgage lending increased

$2b over the period.