This week's move by a group of lawyers to take legal action against the NZ banks over default fees is not the first time banks have come under pressure.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia boss Ian Narev says his bank and its New Zealand subsidiary ASB will vigorously defend accusations of unfair and illegal default fees levelled by a legal consortium.

The kiwi dollar dropped by 1 US cent after the Reserve Bank warned that a strong currency could always prompt an OCR cut.

The Reserve Bank says the Official Cash Rate will stay at its record low of 2.5pc. The kiwi dollar dropped on the news.

A massive class-action suit being taken against New Zealand's big four banks and Kiwibank was announced with much fanfare earlier this week.

Kiwi bank customers are being stung by significantly higher default fees than their Australian counterparts but some say banks across the Tasman are undercharging.

Businesses expect the New Zealand dollar to peak around the middle of the year before declining, according to an ASB Bank survey.

ANZ's Truckometer indicator is pointing to a tepid start to the year and a risk of recent history repeating, where short-term surges in momentum are followed by a slump.

An Auckland woman says she is owed $10,000 in excessive bank default fees after she was not able to meet her mortgage repayments during a time of financial hardship.

The NZIER shadow board thinks on balance the Reserve Bank should keep the official cash rate on hold at 2.5 per cent tomorrow, but compared with six weeks ago there is less support for a cut and more for a hike.

Andrew Hooker won't say who he banks with but isn't worried that the billion-dollar legal case he is taking against New Zealand's major banks will force him to stash his cash under a mattress.

More than 10,000 people have registered to join a billion dollar legal case against New Zealand's major banks in less than 24 hours.

A banking expert says a bid to take a billion-dollar class-action lawsuit against New Zealand's banks is ambitious and the amount claimable appears to be inflated.

New Zealand banks face what is expected to be the biggest class suit the country has seen over $1 billion in default fees claimed by lenders over the past six years.

The financial markets see no chance the Reserve Bank will raise the official cash rate on Thursday, so their focus will be on how the accompanying monetary policy statement describes the balance of risks going forward.

Regulating loan-to-value ratios would not be the Reserve Bank's favoured option, believes the Bankers' Association.

The Reserve Bank has released a consultation paper on the macro-prudential instruments it wants to add to its toolbox.

Looks like details of the long-awaited Mighty River Power float are set to be released on Monday with the Government raring to go after receiving the all clear from the Supreme Court.