New Zealand Post changes address after 63 years, as Kiwibank operates alone

Tuesday, 5 December 2017

Kiwibank in New Plymouth's city centre will become a standalone bank, which will result in the loss of four part-time staff, due to New Zealand Post moving out of the location.

Taranaki has lost its final standalone post office.

After 63 years of operating from its Currie St site in downtown New Plymouth, New Zealand Post will outsource its service to a stationery shop from January as Kiwibank takes over the premises.

The transformation will see the loss of four part-time Kiwibank jobs.

NZ Post spokeswoman Amanda Broatch said the company started to offer services at its new location, Taranaki Stationery in the Richmond Centre, in October.

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'The postal service's established model has locations easy to access and with longer hours which helps NZ Post develop and establish a sustainable business,' she said.

'We're not changing what we offer but how we offer it.'

The decision to outsource NZ Post came as a response to a continued decline in revenue.

A change in the postal service's business model will help mitigate those losses while improving ease of access to customers, Broatch said.

The move is said to be mutually beneficial to Kiwibank, which will become a standalone branch as of January 8 - the third of its kind in the country behind Auckland and Hamilton.

Kiwibank spokeswoman Holly Thompson said the new model is a way to accommodate the 'changing needs' of customers.

She said a space used solely by the bank will allow people to approach bankers on more complicated matters such as loans and mortgages.

'The standalone branch is a relatively new model for us.

'It will use more of a concierge service and customers will no longer have to queue behind someone sending a parcel.'

Renovations to the interior of the Currie St branch will take place in the coming months but the bank will continue to operate as usual 'with as little disruption to the customer as possible'.

Joe Gallagher, E Tū national industry coordinator for communications, said the union is currently engaging with Kiwibank.

He said the union will look to either retrain affected members or have them placed elsewhere within the company.

'It's challenging times.'

Gallagher believes the decision for the split of NZ Post and Kiwibank is a carry-on effect from amendments made to The Deed of Understanding - a legal arrangement between the Government and New Zealand Post - in 2014.

The amended deed allowed NZ Post to reduce its frequency of deliveries as one of its many steps in a five-year transformation plan to adapt to a decline in the number of letters being sent.

The deed also extended the type of 'network' NZ Post could operate in, expanding its potential outlets to include 'services hosted in other businesses and electronic self-service kiosks'.

Broatch could not confirm in time of publication whether the decision to relocate the NZ Post in New Plymouth is in relation to the amended deed.