Merepeka Raukawa-Tait: I'm changing banks as a protest

The four big Australian-owned banks operating in NZ. Photo / NZME

OPINION:

I rarely go into my bank these days - perhaps twice a year.

Everything I need I can do online. I admit it took me a while to navigate the online services and support options available. But like most things, it's only a matter of practice. Old habits die hard.

Covid - that dreaded word again - is probably responsible for some of the changes we've had to make to many of our habits. We get so used to doing things a certain way; we frequent the same cafés, travel the same route and shop at the same outlets. We resent the effort we have to expend when change is required.

But I will not have that problem next month when I change banks. It will be an effort well spent, with no regrets.

I have been thinking about it for a while now. This year, there have reportedly been huge profits by big banks worldwide.

A KPMG report shows in the first three months of this year, banks in New Zealand made a combined profit of $1.74 billion. Banks operating in New Zealand collectively made more than $6b in 2021, according to KPMG.

This makes me see red.

The report says the four big banks – Australian-owned ANZ, ASB, BNZ, and Westpac – provide 85 per cent of lending in New Zealand, while the five NZ-owned banks account for 9 per cent of lending.

I understand that banks must make a profit - any business has to if it wants to stay in business.

But how much profit is enough? I wonder if there's ever enough to satisfy the banks.

Shareholders must be ecstatic with dividends received in recent years.

But I would now rather support the New Zealand economy to get back on its feet by supporting a New Zealand-owned bank than contribute, as a customer of the bank I am with now, to an Australian-owned business.

Perhaps I might have avoided taking action if interest rates on savings and deposits climbed higher too, but that hasn't happened. Those are going up at a slower rate than mortgage rates.

One of the few New Zealand-owned banks will easily cover my banking needs, which are pretty minimal these days.

It's a small personal protest I can make and feel good about.

It's families with children in particular that worry me. They are in for some tough years ahead. Rising household costs, with mortgage rates expected to continue increasing, will mean belt-tightening all around.

But there's only so much belt-tightening families can do. Mortgage payments are a priority, so cost-cutting in other areas will need to happen. Families in rental accommodation will find it hard, too.

In the past 12 months, there have been significant increases in food, power, accommodation and transport costs. Ask the man or woman in the street what they have experienced - they know exactly how much their household spending is up compared to this time last year.

We want our businesses to succeed and be the best they can be in their field, and we are willing to support them. We also know that global changes have seen oil prices rise, materials in short supply and supply chains disrupted.

But, in my opinion, businesses that make what I believe are excessive profits show disdain for struggling New Zealand families.

To say banks are a necessary evil won't impress families desperately trying to make ends meet.

In my view, these families don't like to see big profits being made and feel like they are being ripped off.

Merepeka Raukawa-Tait has worked in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Today she writes, broadcasts and is a regular social issues commentator on TV. Of Te Arawa, Merepeka believes fearless advocacy for equity and equality has the potential to change lives.