Of those surveyed 46 per cent or nearly half were worried about how much they had in their retirement investment accounts with one in 10 people very worried.
That was higher than the numbers who were concerned about their job security with 39 per cent worried about that, although 13 per cent were very worried.
Keeping up with other loan payments such as car and business loans was a concern to a third of those surveyed - just slightly ahead of those concerned about their ability to keep up with rent payments.
Roger Beaumont, chief executive of the New Zealand Bankers Association, which commissioned the research, said a lot of concerns would be linked to job security.
"The uncertainty around job security - if they think they are going to lose their job they will be worried about their ability to pay for a whole range of things."
But he also pointed to expectations that New Zealand's economic outlook would improve from here.
The May research, undertaken just as the country moved from Level 3 to Level 2, found 55 per cent believed the current economic conditions were bad - up from 27 per cent in prior research carried out in February before the lockdown.
But when asked what they expected to happen over the next 12 months 39 per cent believed economic conditions would get better, up from 20 per cent in February, while 35 per cent expected them to get worse.
Roger Beaumont, chief executive of the New Zealand Bankers' Association. Photo / file
Beaumont said the findings reflected the fact that in February the economy was going strongly but there was not much room for it to get better.
But now there was plenty of room for improvement with economic data expected to show the country's economy shrunk this quarter with a recession likely.
The NZBA began surveying the general public about banks last year in a bid to get a better handle on public opinion following criticism from regulators after a conduct and culture review.
The research was meant to be six monthly but Beaumont said it decided to undertake an extra survey to see how public attitudes towards banks had changed in the Covid-19 environment.
It found New Zealanders' broadly positive attitude towards the banks had increased slightly but not significantly and this had been spurred by the introduction of the six monthly mortgage deferral scheme.
Of those surveyed 62 per cent had a positive attitude towards banks, up two percentage points on the February research and 17 per cent were negative down four percentage points.
Those who described the banks as helpful pointed to the mortgage deferral scheme and good communication from the banks.
But it also received negative feedback on the scheme with some criticising the deferrals as giving banks a veneer of "heroes"
"heroes" on the face of it or talking a good game about helping clients but were disappointing that interest would still accrue on the loans while the deferral was in place.
Beaumont believed the concerns may have been linked to the language used initially when the Government referred to it as a loan "holiday".
"People perceived it as a gift."
He said the deferrals were designed to give people breathing space and banks still had to wear the cost of the loan while it was not being paid.
The positive feedback on communication was likely linked to banks redirecting branch staff to be used in their call centres while branches were closed or on reduced hours.
Beaumont said the research showed banks needed to continue to be proactive and support customers through the challenges ahead, including helping people get off the mortgage deferrals as it became clear they no longer needed them.
