Bank merger puts off money hungry

By PAULA OLIVER

The merger that created the country's largest bank appears to have turned money-hungry house-hunters away from ANZ and the National Bank.

The latest figures filed with the Reserve Bank, for May, reveal $1 billion of mortgage business is still being written each month. But the battle among banks for a slice of that action has taken a new course.

Overseas media reports yesterday claimed that ANZ's share of mortgage growth for the first quarter of this year had been as low as 6.4 per cent.

The same figures claimed that the National Bank, traditionally the holder of the country's largest mortgage book, had captured just under 13 per cent of that growth - down significantly from last year.

Such comparisons can be made only by using quarterly disclosure statements filed by the banks, but are difficult because banks can present these in varying forms.

The statements indicate that ASB has captured the biggest chunk of growth in mortgages - writing about a third of the business of the big five banks. Its aggressive approach and long Auckland history have worked in its favour.

If that trend continues ASB will shortly threaten to topple the National Bank from its top placing.

Westpac has returned a better performance after putting extra emphasis on Auckland and deciding not to compete on interest rates but to instead focus on products.

BNZ is steadily increasing its mortgage book, backed by a strong advertising campaign and aggressive interest rate moves.

Eyes have been firmly focused on the performance of ANZ and the National Bank since their merger was announced last October.

In a unique move the two bank brands are to be run separately for "the foreseeable future" to combat customer flight.