Kiwi Bank was today red-faced after discovering that highly confidential documents had been handed across the counter to a member of the public at the Greymouth branch.
The documents, which were passed on to the Greymouth Star, contain personal information of about 20 West Coast individuals, including full names, dates of birth, bank account numbers, signatures and email addresses.
The information had already been through two sets of hands before being passed to the newspaper to raise the alarm about the privacy breach.
A cursory glance show the papers include original copies of automatic payment changes, money transfers, term deposits, bank operating authorities, and payments.
The envelope of documents was inadvertently given to a member of the public when they went into the Kiwi Bank office, run out of the Post Shop, last Friday. The man was inquiring about opening an account and was handed a green brochure and a large envelope, and told to go away and study them.
