Bank Of New Zealand
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Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's
big four Big Four or Big 4 may refer to: Groups of companies * Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC * Big Four (airlines) in the U.S. in the 20th century: American, Eastern, TWA, United * Big Four (banking), several groupings ...
bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...
s and has been operating in the country since the first office was opened in
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
in October 1861 followed shortly after by the first branch in
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
in December 1861. The bank operates a variety of financial services covering
retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
, business and institutional banking and employs over 5,000 people in New Zealand. In 1992 the bank was purchased by the
National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...
and has since then operated as a subsidiary, but it retains local governance with a New Zealand board of directors. As of June 2022, BNZ is the second largest bank operating in New Zealand, with a market share of 19.1%.


History

* 1861: The Bank of New Zealand formed as a private company and incorporated by The New Zealand Bank Act 1861 creating the company and authorising it to issue banknotes. First branch in New Zealand opened in Queen Street in
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
and a Dunedin branch is opened shortly afterward. * 1862: Wellington, Christchurch and London branches opened. Gained the banking account of the New Zealand Government from the
Union Bank of Australia The Union Bank of Australia was an Australian bank in operation from 1837 to 1951. It was established in London in October 1837 with a subscribed capital of £500,000. The foundation of the bank had followed a visit to England by Van Diemen's Land ...
and became an agent to raise debt in the United Kingdom for the Government. In the 1860s and 1870s capital was brought into New Zealand by the government and others. There was plenty of employment, development moved quickly and very good prospects brought property prices to high values. In the 1880s prices of staple products fell very low, the rabbit pest cut wool production and the government cut expenditure on public works by 75 per cent. Land fell to half its former value and was impossible to realise, many runholders and businessmen were ruined and the working classes were unable to purchase goods or pay their debts. There was no dairying or frozen meat industry.Banker Passes. Mr
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''Evening Post'' Issue 11, 13 July 1938, Page 13
*Investors withdrew their capital. The export of frozen meat began in the 1880s refer Canterbury Lamb and dairy products soon followed see
Anchor butter Anchor is a brand of dairy products that was founded in New Zealand in 1886, and is one of the key brands owned by the New Zealand based international exporter Fonterra, Fonterra Co-operative Group. In Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, Fonterra u ...
. * 1894: The BNZ saved by Government legislation in June. * 1895: The BNZ takes over the
Colonial Bank of New Zealand The Colonial Bank of New Zealand was a trading bank headquartered in Dunedin, New Zealand which operated independently for more than 20 years. A public company listed on the local stock exchanges it was owned and controlled by New Zealand entrep ...
which was in crisis. * 1940: £1 million interest free loan as a war contribution to the Government. The 74 women in the company rise to more than 700 by 1945. * 1943: Mobile branch opened in a caravan for American servicemen, Night banking introduced in Auckland and Wellington. * 1944: Personal loans department opened. Government announces intention to
nationalise Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
the bank. * 1945: Nash Government introduces the Bank of New Zealand Bill. Once passed the Government paid £7,933,000 in cash, transferable stock, and tax-free stock to the Bank's 8,500 shareholders for their shares. The average holding was 495 shares. * 1966: First computer purchased an IBM 360/30 with a 16k memory; Databank Systems Ltd setup in 1967 with the
National Bank of New Zealand The National Bank of New Zealand Limited (NBNZ), often referred to as The National Bank, was one of New Zealand's largest banks. Throughout much of its history, the National Bank provided commercial banking services to mainly major industrial and ...
; the other three trading banks join in 1968. * 1978:
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debit card A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The term '' plastic card'' includes the above and as an identity document. These are similar to a credit card, but u ...
introduced. * 1980: Visa
credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
s introduced. * 1984:
BNZ Centre The Aon Centre is a commercial office building at 1 Willis Street in Wellington, New Zealand, formerly named the BNZ Centre then the State Insurance Building. When completed in 1984, it was the tallest building in New Zealand, overtaking the 87m ...
completed on Willis Street, Wellington. * 1985:
Eftpos Electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS; ) is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, at payment terminals located at points of sale. EFTPOS t ...
introduced through petrol stations in a pilot program. * 1987: Bank floated on sharemarket with a 15% stock offering. * 1989: Government reduces its share to 51% by selling 34%; with 30% sold to Capital Markets Ltd, and the remainder to the general public * 1990: Government bail out of $380 million to avoid collapse. Bolger was told on the Sunday after the 1990 election that the bank ''has to report by Friday, and if its not given support by then, it will collapse'' (because of Australian loans). It held ''40 percent of the commercial paper in New Zealand. So if it collapsed, half of New Zealand's companies would have collapsed''. * 1992:
National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...
(NAB) purchased the BNZ and the BNZ becomes a subsidiary of the Australian bank. * 1992: First call centre opened in Auckland. * 1998: Head office moves to Auckland. * 1999: BNZ launched
Internet Banking Online banking, also known as internet banking, web banking or home banking, is an electronic payment system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial inst ...
. * 1999: BNZ Private Banking network launched. * 2000: 192 branches, 5562 staff. * 2008: 1 October: The bank rebrands itself as 'BNZ' with a change in logo and colours. * 2020: BNZ announces the closure of 38 branches over the next seven months as a result of the economic effects of COVID-19.


Core business functions


Retail banking

For retail customers, Bank of New Zealand offers a range of products and services that include savings and investments, home loans, credit cards, personal loans, insurance and international and migrant banking. Customers are able to bank using telephone banking, internet banking or by visiting one of 180 branches around New Zealand.


Business

Business banking at Bank of New Zealand has been branded BNZ Partners and provides a full range of banking services for small, medium and large businesses. Services include transactional bank accounts, investments, loans and finance, card and payment, insurance and international banking services for businesses dealing with exports, imports and foreign exchange. Bank of New Zealand’s business banking division provides banking staff with specialist knowledge of various industry sectors consisting of agribusiness, medical, professional, property, not-for-profit, franchising and iwi.


Institutional

Bank of New Zealand’s institutional banking division provides wholesale banking services for large corporate, financial institutions and government entities. These cover a wide range of sectors, including primary industries; manufacturing and retailing; energy; utilities; telecommunications and infrastructure; property; local government; health; and education. In December 2010, BNZ was appointed as lead arranger for the newly formed Auckland Council’s $600 million syndicated bank loan facility. In June 2010, BNZ was awarded the contract to provide the Auckland Council with comprehensive transactional services and over-the counter services.


Operations

Main management and administration functions for Bank of New Zealand are located in Wellington and Auckland and the bank operates a nationwide network of 180 retail stores and business centres (branded as Partner Centres).


Sustainability

Bank of New Zealand became the first bank in New Zealand to become carbon neutral. The achievement was announced in September 2010 after a three-year initiative to reduce emissions through greater energy and vehicle efficiency, encouraging changed behaviour by employees at work and at home and through offsetting of unavoidable emissions by purchasing quality carbon credits. The most visible aspect of the initiative came through the construction of three brand new, energy efficient buildings to house the bulk of the company’s management and administration staff. Two of these building are located in the Auckland CBD, one at Quay Park and the other at 80 Queen Street. The third is the Harbour Quays complex on the Wellington waterfront. The Deloitte Centre at 80 Queen Street was tagged "the greenest building in the land" after it became the first building in New Zealand to receive three Five Green Stars awards. The BNZ Quay Park building was nominated for a BeST Design Award in 2008 for Offices and Workplace Environments.


Arms


References


External links


Bank of New ZealandHistory; the 1894 Government bailout & 1895 takeover of Colonial Bank
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bank Of New Zealand Privately held companies of New Zealand Companies based in Auckland New Zealand subsidiaries of foreign companies National Australia Bank Banks established in 1861 New Zealand companies established in 1861