Name of people's bank comes as no surprise

11.00 am

New Zealand Post's banking enterprise will be known as Kiwi Bank, it was revealed today.

Launching the new bank's brand and prototype shopfront, chairman Jim Bolger said the name would "come as no surprise".

He said the name identified the bank as a New Zealand operation, in contrast to the banking sector which was dominated by overseas-owned banks.

This morning, journalists were driven to a secret location where NZ Post management and Mr Bolger revealed a prototype bank set up in a warehouse.

The man behind Kiwi Bank, Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderson, is refusing to be put off by huge drop in the number of people who say they will support it.

Auckland University Business School's Marketing Department has found only 16 per cent of the country's bank customers would consider doing business with the Bank, down from 40 per cent last year.

But Mr Anderton this morning said only 5 per cent support was needed for the bank, which will cost taxpayers about $80 million to set up, to be profitable.

"This survey...has over three times more than that who say they will (switch) and double that nearly who say they'll think about," Mr Anderton told National Radio.

"If someone's trying to make me feel bad about that when (there's) six times more people than we need to make the bank profitable, well have a go but you'll have a very hard job."

Of the 1285 retail customers questioned in the survey, 73 per cent said they would not consider leaving their bank, compared with 41 per cent in last year's survey.

Only 31 per cent agreed with the concept behind the new bank, while 54 per cent disagreed. Last year 54 per cent agreed and 30 per cent disagreed.

The concept of the bank was still realistic, Mr Anderton insisted this morning.

"After all, the idea of the bank is it's supported by about half of the population originally, 31 per cent now support it and its been subjected to a very significant negative political attack while its been preparing for the opening next year," he said.

"If that's as bad as it gets it's pretty good, and I've always had the absolute maximum confidence, and I still have, that this bank is going to be very, very successful."

The bank, an off-shoot of New Zealand Post to be run in branches nationwide, was set to open next February or March. Cabinet last February gave NZ Post the go-ahead for the bank, agreeing to make a $72.2 million capital injection, forgo $6 million in dividends from NZ Post in 2000/01 and for NZ Post to provide an additional $4.8 million to finance the bank's start-up costs.

Mr Anderton also believed New Zealand Post's 92 per cent rating as the most respected corporate in New Zealand would translate to support for the new bank.

"...there's no reason why New Zealand Post's reputation in terms of its postal services can't be transferred on to its banking services and I'm confident they will," he said.

ACT finance spokesman Rodney Hide said the survey results were "devastating" for the Government.

"The survey authors point out that only a quarter of those saying that they are considering switching ever actually do," he said in a statement.

"The bank's a dog and (Finance Minister) Michael Cullen should pull the plug before he wastes even more taxpayers' money than he already has."

- NZPA

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