Many will be sad to see the end of the famous National Bank horse as it is phased out over the next two years.
The iconic pose of the beast, along with the deep green that seemed to resonate New Zealand-ness, will be lost as the identity of the banking institution is absorbed into the ANZ, which bought the National Bank in 2003.
Many will wonder what else will be lost along with it. There have been promises of no frontline staff cuts, although that will be of little comfort to those who work in back-office functions.
In many ways, it seems a logical extension of a process that began when ANZ bought the National Bank. In the nearly 10 years that have passed, many will often have wondered how long it would take to merge the two brands into one.
ANZ chief executive David Hisco's assertion that the decision to cull the National brand equated to little more than "a colour change" and should have little effect on customers, will have eyebrows raised in some quarters. Some will wonder which parts of the two organisations will be retained. Already we know National Bank technology will be adopted. But what of the customer service? The National Bank has a history of scoring better than its counterpart in annual customer satisfaction surveys. The executives will be hoping to eliminate or at least minimise the worst elements of both banks and promote the better bits.
