BNZ 'ruthlessly vigilant' in deserving customer trust, chief executive says

Thursday, 3 May 2018

Angela Mentis has come to the BNZ from a role at NAB in Australia.

BNZ'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, business and private banking, with National Australia Bank, BNZ's parent.

Australia's Royal Commission 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.

'In our focus to deliver a seamless banking experience, we assess global best practice in relation to conduct and are taking learnings from several recent financial sector inquiries across Australia, the UK and the US.

'The Royal Commission is helping shape this work, but our focus is deliberately broader than that to ensure we are across all relevant findings and learnings.'

She said she had noticed differences since she came to New Zealand. The regulatory environment, business models and business 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. 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 did not have the vertically integrated model seen in Australia, she said.

The bank would need to build 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, which helped the country's bottom line.

'These results mean BNZ is well placed to respond to an unprecedented change in the way customers are using digital technology. We are accelerating an ambitious transformation strategy. Our sights are set on the changes that will make the biggest difference to our ability to consistently offer our customers a seamless banking experience,' Mentis said.

More than 90 per cent of the bank's transactions are now digital.

Mortgage lending increased $2b over the period.