BNZ says its welcomes any moves to accelerate open banking to enhance competition in the sector. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The country's big Australian-owned banks appear to be ready for further government scrutiny into competition in the banking sector.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said big banks were on notice and the Cabinet expected them to deliver a fairer deal for users, including accelerating open banking.
The message came alongside the government's response to the Commerce Commission's final report into competition in personal banking services.
The government also issued a revised financial policy remit and a set of expectations for the Reserve Bank, asking the central bank to "meaningfully" focus on competition.
The BNZ - owned by Australia's NAB - said New Zealand banks operated in a "highly competitive environment".
"We have aspirations to accelerate growth across our business and we welcome any proposed reviews that aim to enhance competition for the benefit of all New Zealanders," a spokesperson said.
BNZ said it was already working to implement specific recommendations from the commission's final report into banking, and was making good progress, particularly in open banking - which would make it easier for consumers to share their financial data with third parties.
"As the market leader in open banking, BNZ has been providing open data services since 2018, with more than 250,000 customers already benefiting from the ability to share their data and make payments safely and securely. We support the focus on accelerating open banking as a way to enhance competition."
The country's largest bank, Australian-owned ANZ, said "it welcomes the opportunity to work with the government and regulators to implement the recommendations of the Commerce Commission's market study into personal banking services".
"We're already working on some of the initiatives and areas of focus identified in the report and we'll continue to engage constructively with industry, regulators and the government on them."
Westpac declined to comment and ASB did not respond.
The Banking Association said it too welcomed a "stronger focus on competition from the Reserve Bank".
"As an industry, we are working with the Reserve Bank on relevant recommendations such as lending on whenua Māori and basic bank accounts," chief executive Roger Beaumont said.
"Our 18 member banks operate in a competitive environment and welcome the market study recommendations to make banking even more accessible to New Zealanders," he said.