Federated Farmers Release Rural Banking Report Cards
"A farmer's relationship with their bank is one of the most important relationships within their business, and for many farmers interest payments will be their single-biggest expense," says Federated Farmers banking spokesperson Mark Hooper.
"Farmers, along with politicians and the general public, deserve full transparency of what each of the rural lenders is doing well - and just as importantly, what they're not doing so well.
"That's why, for the first time, we've asked farmers to tell us how the banks are stacking up.
"We're now releasing these report cards because we want to create more visibility of rural banking issues and competition."
Federated Farmers' May banking survey of 681 farmers found Rabobank and ANZ were the top-performing rural banks, sharing first-place on the podium.
Rabobank received the highest scores for overall satisfaction, communication quality and overdraft rate.
ANZ scored the best farmer ratings for mortgage rates, the level of undue pressure felt by farmers, and mental health scores.
Westpac came in at the middle of the pack, scoring well with their mortgage rates and communication.
BNZ and ASB were nearly tied in last place, showing they've got some work to do with farmers.
Hooper says the banks' CEOs should keep an eye out for a report card coming their way.
"The purpose of these report cards isn't to tear down the banks - it's to really help them see what they need to focus on to deliver a better service to Kiwi farmers.
"Over the coming weeks we'll be providing each of the banks with a copy of their report card, and some constructive feedback on how they could improve.
"We hope this is a helpful process and results in a benefit to both farmers and their lenders."
ANZ
Mortgage Rate: A+
Overdraft Rate: A
Undue Pressure: A+
Comm. Quality: B
Mental Health: A+
Overall Satisfaction: A
Final Grade: A-
Rabobank
Mortgage Rate: B
Overdraft Rate: A+
Undue Pressure: A
Comm. Quality: A+
Mental Health: A
Overall Satisfaction: A+
Final Grade: A-
Westpac
Mortgage Rate: A
Overdraft Rate: C
Undue Pressure: D
Comm. Quality: A
Mental Health: B
Overall Satisfaction: B
Final Grade: C+
BNZ
Mortgage Rate: D
Overdraft Rate: D
Undue Pressure: B
Comm. Quality: D
Mental Health: D
Overall Satisfaction: C
Final Grade: C-
ASB
Mortgage Rate: C
Overdraft Rate: B
Undue Pressure: C
Comm. Quality: C
Mental Health: C
Overall Satisfaction: D
Final Grade: D
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NZ Herald
6 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Never mind the tariffs, NZ must prepare for the Chinese consumer rebound
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As Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong (also speaking at the summit) put it: 'No matter how turbulent the global landscape is, or will be, China remains unremittingly committed to development to deliver better lives for the Chinese people, in the historic process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 'There is a firm, unshakeable national consensus that has not changed and will not change.' Trade war showdown The ability to absorb more short-term economic pain is one of the big advantages China has in its current trade war showdown with the US, says Browne. 'I think it is important to know that Xi Jinping thinks he is winning! And he may not be wrong,' Browne says. 'Obviously, China has problems in its economy. We're in the third year of a real estate meltdown. Youth unemployment is high, it is crushing the dreams of an entire generation of college graduates and their families. 'Xi Jinping is enormously concerned about all of this but he is focused on a different prize,' Browne says. That prize is technology. China is laser-focused on developing a high-tech manufacturing industry to enable China to escape the American choke hold, he says. '[Xi] sees what he says are changes 'unseen in a century' ... meaning the rise of China and relative decline of the USA. 'This, from Xi's perspective, is China's moment to seize.' When it comes to tariffs and the trade war, both Yeung and Browne see China having the upper hand. Yeung believes it's likely the present US/China tariffs (currently sitting at 30%) will fade into insignificance in the coming years. ANZ China chief economist Raymond Yeung. 'I expect this tariff will be gone very soon,' he says. 'There is too much stakeholder interest.' Basically, the US needs China's rare earth metals, and China needs access to US semiconductor chip technology. 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'It's equally possible that the US could convince China to shift its economic model further to consumption.' Or, it could all end up relatively benign for the US economy. Trump might continue to reduce tariffs, and a combination with 'cutting taxes, slimming the government and cutting red tape may usher in a golden era for the US ... we don't know.' Another possible outcome is that the world economy 'bifurcates' around the US and China, and countries like New Zealand are caught in the middle, he warns. But regardless of what happens next, Trump has made the fundamental cardinal mistake in his second term of underestimating China, Browne says. '[Former US President Joe] Biden, whether you like him or not, had the measure of China, so when he wanted to put export controls on chip-making materials, his team worked very hard with governments in the Netherlands and Japan. 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'He said the Chinese were 'playing with a pair of twos ... It turned out that when he turned the cards over that China had a couple of aces.' One of those aces was rare earths. 'China threatened to choke off the supply of rare earths to the US and in doing so would have closed down vast swathes of the manufacturing industry, the defence industry, the entire car industry.' The US attempted to retaliate, denying China exports for jet engines and threatening to close down China's civilian airline project. The tariff war morphed into a supply chain war that was far more serious, Browne says. 'It turns out the Chinese had played the US, and they completely caved. 'Trump brought the tariffs down from 145% to 30%. Still high but no longer prohibitive. That's where we are now. We have a truce.' Browne says he doesn't see Trump completely abandoning tariffs. 'We were warned about recession and inflation and we haven't seen that yet,' he says. 'Tariffs are raking record amounts of revenue for the US Government. In Trump's mind, this is a substitute for taxation.' It may be that the lack of negative consequences actually emboldens Trump. 'I would not count out that possibility, that he really does come through with the big tariffs he's promised on August 1.' Tech wars Technology is at the heart of US-China competition now, Browne says. 'A lot of people got the socialist market economy wrong,' he says. 'There was this idea that it would collapse under its own contradictions and an enormous amount of waste. 'And look, the waste in the Chinese system is spectacular but it is also spectacularly well co-ordinated.' It's a whole-of-nation approach, he says. 'Private/public partnerships, centralised R&D, centralised marketing and bottomless supplies of capital and this incredible winnowing process through dog-eat-dog capitalism in the marketplace. What emerges are these apex predators.' 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Liam Dann is business editor-at-large for the New Zealand Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Heraldin 2003.
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Customer service manager's focus
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RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Local food delivery company struggling against competition
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