Peter Barnes

Not long to go now until our Payments NZ conference The Point 2024 on 19 & 20 November – Ki tua, Navigating beyond.  One of the cool things I get to do at our conferences as they roll around every two years, is a behind-the-scenes job to help brief in speakers 🙌. I can hand on heart say with the speakers we've started briefing, there are some amazing leaders from here in Aotearoa and around the globe turning up to hurt our brains with the possible, resolve our wairua towards the meaningful and set a fire in our bellies to drive progress. For those of you coming along that love the 'big picture stuff', there are some sessions I reckon that will be right up your alley👇: 🌳 Matua Rereata Mākiha sharing his deep ancestral knowledge and know-how on intergenerational thinking, succession and legacy.  This kaumatua is revered for his knowledge and is in much demand by so many sectors for his mātauranga (knowledge) on te taiao (the environment) and more. 💪 The panel with our four mana wāhine bank CEO’s Catherine McGrath from Westpac, Vittoria Shortt from ASB, Antonia Watson from ANZ and Kerry Boielle from TSB, on shaping the future of the digital economy and how we’re all going to need to make some tough calls on priorities to set us on an innovation and growth trajectory as a nation and as an industry. 🌪 The panel on navigating trade, geopolitics and the economy. This panel discussion will be coming in hot on the heels of the US election 🤯 and together with the state of our economy, the ongoing groundwork in export markets esp. with indigenous trade corridors and in the Pacific, this will be a super interesting discussion with - Hon. Tim Groser former Trade Minister, export business and governance rangatira Traci Houpapa, economist Shamubeel Eaqub and Jennifer Henry CEO Bank of the Cook Islands. 🚸 The panel on Te Ao Hurihuri 2040 and beyond with Janelle Riki-Waaka from Riki Consultancy Ltd, Adrian Smith from BlinkPay, Nu’uali’i Eteroa Lafaele from FIBRE FALE and Jason-Urranndulla Davis from HOLDACCESS (WUNA). Our demographics are changing and in 15 years or so time in Aotearoa the workforce and our consumer base is looking younger and more ethnically and culturally diverse. If we’re setting up our organisations for the long-term we need to be leaning into this significant paradigm shift. There is something for everyone in the programme that’s for sure! Steve Wiggins Chad Haighmark Phil Cass Shaun Clements Lisa Ibarra Andrew Weaver Merilee Andrews Vanessa Ronan-Pearce 🎶Nina Seja

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The People & Planet Report 2024 delves into the evolving role of customer-owned banks in today’s lending market. Discover how Beyond Bank Australia, P&N Bank and People First Bank, through their community-first approach, are transforming the financial landscape. Download the free report to explore the key findings today: https://bit.ly/4cTuRXV #BrokerPulse #PeopleandPlanet #MutualBanks #MortgageBrokers

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The People & Planet Report 2024 delves into the evolving role of customer-owned banks in today’s lending market. Discover how Beyond Bank Australia, P&N Bank and People First Bank, through their community-first approach, are transforming the financial landscape. Download the free report to explore the key findings today: https://bit.ly/4cTuRXV #BrokerPulse #PeopleandPlanet #MutualBanks #MortgageBrokers

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GOOD morning. Did you know that Australian bank Westpac has set itself a ‘pretty aggressive’ QA target to automate 70% of testing? "Most banks are targeting 30 to 40 percent [automation]. We’re going for 70 percent, it’s ambitious but doable.” Read more here -> https://lnkd.in/dKNK7hJw #Westpac #AUSfinserv #Banking #SoftwareTesting #ML #ICT #IT #QA

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We're operationally ready to work with approved third parties on delivering Open Banking solutions that will help improve New Zealanders’ banking experiences. As of today, we've made Payments NZ’s API Centre Payment Initiation v2.1 API Standard available for third parties to connect to. Westpac NZ Chief Information Officer Russell Jones says work continues across the bank to make open banking a success in the months and years to come. “We’re committed to the successful rollout and adoption of open banking, and we look forward to helping provide New Zealanders with more options for making payments and managing their money in a safe and secure way,” Mr Jones says. “Open banking has the potential to provide far-reaching opportunities for customers to manage their money in new ways, from plugging into budgeting tools to splitting the cost of a meal in a quick and easy fashion. “Consumer confidence is key to the successful uptake of open banking, and we continue to work with the industry on future API standards that are safe and secure, as well as providing a seamless and efficient partnering process with third parties that creates trust in the system. “We have entered into a number of partnerships with API providers to date, and are finalising details of our API agreements with these providers. We are also in discussions with a range of other providers regarding potential future partnerships.” For more on Open Banking see: https://lnkd.in/gK9RGCPp and for more on the API Centre Payment Initiation v2.1 API Standard see: https://lnkd.in/gQji5Muh Catherine McGrath Sarah Hearn Richard Dalby Joanne Freeman Dan Symons Ara Krishnaraj Marty Sellwood Steve Wiggins Max Bania Will Hine Sarah Wall Annabel Olsen (Cramer)

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NAB welcomes the Future Made in Australia package announced as part of the Federal Budget. The right government incentives are going to be critical in attracting the significant capital needed to transition, and secure Australia’s long term economic prosperity in a decarbonised world.    As David Gall says in his discussion with Richard Gluyas, as always, the devil will be in the detail here. A strength of the USA’s Inflation Reduction Act has been the clarity it affords investors in how they qualify for either development or production tax credits. Therefore, here on home soil, it will be important for the Future in Australia package be backed in by the right fiscal policies. To secure capital, investors will need to have confidence that Australian transition projects are secure investments for the long term. Nevertheless, this is a step forward in Australia’s transition to net zero, and the economic upside we know is on the table if we can get it right. https://lnkd.in/gtrjx-iY

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It’s official! The first OCR cut in 4 years. The RBNZ has made the bold move of moving the cash rate lower while inflation is stil outside the target band of 1-3%. Their commentary seems to suggest the economy is moving in the right direction, with business pricing intentions indicating stable low inflation in the short to mid term. Will this be the first of a series of rate cuts or will the reserve bank take a wait and watch approach at the next OCR review? Either way, the wholesale markets are abuzz with activity, optimisticly pricing in further cuts indicating we can reasonably expect to see more retail interest rate cuts from NZ banks in coming months. If you’re a first home buyer or looking for your next property purchase, time may be running out for you to take advantage of this goldilocks market. As interest rates drop, buyers that were previously priced out of the market may become active again, driving up demand. If you’re unsure of your next move and would like to review what your options are with expert advice, get in touch today for a no obligations chat! 📲: 021 781 929 📧: [email protected]

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With the Commerce Commission releasing their final report and recommendations next week on the market study into personal banking, I thought we better give another opinion - I work at Squirrel after all! In my view, competition remains weak - how else do you explain NZ's high bank profitability? This article dives a little deeper into the revenue side of NZ banks. Competition in the 'fees' side of banking is actually pretty strong, and not the issue, backed up by 30years worth of data from the RBNZ. I suggest the starting point of the problem is deposit pricing. I also suggest that NZ borrowers are getting a great deal, and depositors are getting [dear reader, insert your choice of word here]. I've also suggested a few solutions, this is not an easy space for a regulator though. Roll on the Commerce Commissions views next week. Will it be a wet bus ticket, or will we see some pearly whites? #BankingCompetition #NZBanking #DepositCompetition

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This year's Budget is all about boosting growth and easing the cost of living. We've been thinking about what it may mean for professional services businesses. Check out the considered insights of NAB Chief Economist Alan Oster below. https://lnkd.in/eUbdzJiY

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Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr says the impact of Reserve Bank of New Zealand "savage" interest rates are worse than we thought. The Reserve Banks "savage" monetary policy has driven a double dip recession which have hurt New Zealanders pockets more than the headline numbers suggest. He is hopeful we will see things bouncing back on expectations of rate cuts in November. However, it will be interesting to see how savage things will get if nothing happens until 2025 like some economists are now picking. Westpac New Zealand has been consistent in this view. The Reserve Bank has also been consistently forecasting for 8 months now that the first cuts will come in 2025 Usual questions- . Do you agree with Jarrod Kerr that it would be good to see the OCR start to reduce in November and not 2025? . Has the economy slowed up more than you expected and are you personally or your connections finding it a lot tougher financially? . Has your business been impacted? and what are plans around staffing? . When should the Reserve Bank start cutting interest rates ? #interestrates #inflation #ReserveBank

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Orchestrating the Future: Banking’s Critical Digital Juncture 🌐 This article encapsulates conversations we've been having recently. "We are at a critical digital juncture,” said KPMG’s Janine Woodside (FCA) “The ability to relentlessly orchestrate multiple, complex, concurrent changes, whilst harnessing new technology, will increasingly differentiate banks." 🔑 This resonates deeply with what we’re achieving through our stand-alone credit origination platform. Designed to operate seamlessly alongside your existing systems, our platform is up and running within 3 months and begins delivering returns within 12 to 18 months. We’re in conversations with Australia’s major banks to enable them to enhance their credit origination processes without major disruptions or high-risk integrations. It’s an exciting time for banking innovation, and we’re here to drive powerful, effective change. 🚀 #DigitalTransformation #CreditOrigination #BankingInnovation #Fintech #FutureOfBanking

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A very good read. These lessons stress the importance of robust oversight, diverse perspectives, effective stakeholder communication and management to enhance governance practices. https://lnkd.in/ga8jAkGe

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New NAB data shows that small and medium sized businesses are continuing to invest in new or used energy efficient equipment – with an impressive 80% growth in business finance for green equipment. It’s great to see Australian businesses working with NAB to reduce their emissions, and often find cost savings, through solutions like electric vehicles and machinery and solar panels. https://lnkd.in/gjTWv7kD

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Last week the Senate Committee on Bank Closures in Regional Australia released its report with 8 recommendations. My view ... if major banks are failing regional Australia there are plenty of customer-owned or community banks to fill the void. A government owned bank is not necessary or desirable. It is a far better economic choice for customer-owned and community banks to be supported and incentivised to operate branches in regional areas that can be easily adjusted in the future as circumstances change. The recommendation for ACCC authorisation for banks to co-operate on solutions for remote communities is a good one.

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