Bill English has defended banks against accusations from one of his own MPs that they are "gouging" customers with high overdraft rates, especially for farmers.

The New Zealand dollar gained after a report proposed giving Greece two more years to meet budget targets.

Banks again are offering big loans to property investors, but they come with a warning to those who assume they can leverage their way into high returns.

Profits for New Zealand's four largest banks have soared to close to $3.5 billion for 2011/12 after Westpac yesterday revealed another record result.

The release of any other disaster plan for a major part of New Zealand's economy would be big news, but not for banking. Bernard Hickey looks into it.

ANZ Bank sees no rush of customers to rivals with death of National brand.

BNZ's cash earnings for the year have jumped 21.1 per cent, its parent company said today.

Homegrown lender Kiwibank could face an increase in its wholesale funding costs after being hit by a credit rating downgrade from Standard and Poor's.