Kiwibank flaunts its colours

By KEVIN TAYLOR and ELEANOR BLACK

New Zealand's newest bank, Kiwibank, unveiled yesterday in a no-frills launch at a Wellington warehouse, is promising weekend openings and lower fees.

New Zealand Post promises the bank will have internet and modern telephone banking but with a "community feel".

But the real point of difference must be the Government-owned bank's corporate colours.

The light-green hue is similar to that of the Alliance - whose leader, Jim Anderton, drove Kiwibank.

The Opposition was quick to pounce. National Party leader Bill English dismissed the bank as a laughing stock.

"We are pleased to see the green and red colours in the logo because every time customers see it they will be reminded that the Alliance and Labour Parties are incorporated into it, and started it against public opinion."

He pointed out that in August, NZ Post was denying that the new bank would be called Kiwibank.

Mr Anderton said ministers did not choose colours for state-owned enterprises and he had not been asked to.

He described Kiwibank as a "damn good name" but said he did not have a hand in picking it.

The new bank's managers also denied any political links.

"The reason we went for the green is the freshness and that it works very well with the red," Kiwibank interim chief executive Sam Knowles said.

"It's certainly not a political statement - it's about retailing. It's the choice we made in the retail environment to convey the freshness of what we are offering to customers.

"Jim [Anderton] was not aware of the colour or the name until this morning."

Kiwibank chairman and former Prime Minister Jim Bolger did not think there was any political symbolism.

"What do we sell New Zealand as? We sell it as a clean, green country, and it's clean and green that we've got here. It happens to work very well with the red, which is the New Zealand Post colour."

Prime Minister Helen Clark is refusing to get excited about the NZ Post banking enterprise, and the name Kiwibank appears to have left her cold.

Asked what she thought of the name, she replied: "Nothing, really.

"It's a name. It obviously identifies it as a New Zealand bank.

"I assume they have done a fair amount of research on it that it will work. It's basically a commercial decision, what to call it."

Helen Clark also confirmed that she would not be opening a Kiwibank account, as the branch of her current bank was closer to her Auckland home than the nearest Post Shop.

Maintaining Labour's distance from the Alliance-backed proposal, she said it was NZ Post's credibility not the Government's - which was at stake in terms of making the bank a success.

"There's always a risk ... but on balance, the Government went with NZ Post, which decided that it was a risk worth taking to give NZ Post a profitable line of business."

Kiwibank promises longer opening hours, more outlets and lower fees. It will offer incentives for customers to switch banks, but those details are not yet available.

Its target is 160,000 customers in three years.

Despite the promises, support has slumped in the latest Auckland University Business School bank satisfaction survey. Released yesterday, it showed that both general support and the number considering switching had plunged in the past year.

But Kiwibank is unfazed, insisting the survey bears out the trends of its own research.

Mr Knowles said fees, the source of most bank customers' annoyance, will be on average 20 to 30 per cent lower than existing banks' charges.

The first branches in Post Shops will open in February and by June Kiwibank plans to have more than 300 branches operating.

Kiwibank will cater for personal, family trust and incorporated society banking, but not businesses.

The down-to-earth feel of the new bank was revealed in the unveiling yesterday. Journalists expecting a PR blitz with ritzy press packs, comfy chairs and first-class transport were disappointed.

The media were taken to the Kilbirnie warehouse not in limousines but in a plain Wellington bus.

The symbolism was obvious, although Kiwibank is serious about offering modern-day services and even pushing some boundaries.

It will offer modern services including credit cards, mortgages, and internet and phone banking.

Mr Knowles said some branches would open on Saturdays and Sundays - if the Post Shop associated with them usually opened then.

He expected existing banks to respond to the challenge.

Mr Bolger said the name Kiwibank reinforced the fact that, in a market dominated by overseas banks, there would soon be a proudly Kiwi-owned bank which would keep profits here.

He said about $1.5 billion in bank profits left the country each year.

NZ Post spokesman Simon Taylor said that in August, when the company denied the name was Kiwibank, it was not the name.

The decision had been made only three weeks ago, from more than 20 names under consideration since March.

Dr Joe Atkinson, a senior political science lecturer at Auckland University, said Kiwibank was "an uncontroversial name which marks it clearly as a national bank".

David Tripe, senior lecturer in banking at Massey University, said the name tied in well with its corporate colours.

"It isn't a big international bank that is going to do snazzy corporate deals. It's a bank for ordinary old Kiwis."

Dr Mark Colgate, senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Auckland, thought the green chosen lacked distinction. It was not dissimilar to that used by National Bank.

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