New Zealand


Co-op Money NZ wins credit union legal fight

Co-op Money NZ, the industry body for credit unions and mutual building societies in New Zealand, has won its legal fight to continue providing wholesale banking. The organisation has successfully appealed against the decision of the Registrar of Friendly Societies and Credit Unions. By way of recap, earlier this year, a former Co-op member, Westforce […]

Aotearoa Credit Union goes live on Oracle FSS Flexcube core banking system

Aotearoa Credit Union (ACU), a Māori financial institution in New Zealand, has implemented Oracle FSS’s Flexcube core banking system. ACU, started by the MUMA (Manukau Urban Māori Authority) 28 years ago, is the first Māori financial institution to launch a “tier one” banking platform for its 15,000 members. ACU branches are located in South Auckland […]

Credit Union Australia pivots with Pivotus Ventures’ digital banking

Credit Union Australia (CUA) has joined a group of banking providers, becoming the exclusive Australia and New Zealand partner of Pivotus Ventures. The deal – which also includes the UK’s Nationwide Building Society, US bank Umpqua and the Netherlands’ De Volksbank – will let CUA develop new digital banking opportunities. The ideas are being developed […]

New Zealand preps for new credit union law

A new law in New Zealand is being readied with plans to bring in more innovation and accountability to credit unions. Called the Friendly Societies and Credit Unions (Regulatory Improvements) Amendment Bill, the new legislation will update the law for credit unions and their associations. It has been read for the first time in Parliament. […]

Voice biometrics take ANZ higher for mobile payments

Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, has announced it will be the first Australian bank to introduce voice biometrics on mobile devices to allow higher value transactions. From the middle of this year, customers transferring more than $1,000 through ANZ’s mobile apps will be able to use their voice to automatically authorise high value […]

New Zealand announces new fintech working group

The New Zealand Tech Industry Association (NZTech) is launching a new working group, FinTechNZ, which will focus on financial innovation and technology. This working group will be inaugurated in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland next week.

Become a banking “curator” says ANZ

The future of commercial banking may well lie in being “curators”, according to Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ. In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Mark Hand, managing director, corporate and commercial banking at ANZ says commercial bankers will “morph into ‘curators’ for their business clients by linking customers with reputable, external […]

Berlin-based online lender Spotcap starts operations in New Zealand

Spotcap, an online lending company headquartered in Berlin, Germany, has announced it is now operating in Auckland, New Zealand, as a registered financial services provider and is accepting applications for credit of up to NZD 250,000 ($182,000) from eligible businesses.

ANZ cuts to mobile payments chase with BladePay

Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, has launched its payments system for business customers, ANZ BladePay, alongside six point-of-sale (POS) vendors who are developing customised applications for the platform. Developed in partnership with payments tech company ThumbzUp, ANZ BladePay is a handheld Android-based payment device which is capable of integrating third party applications. ANZ […]

ANZ opens up APIs to third parties

Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, has opened up its mainframe and two banking systems to about 20 new application programming interfaces (APIs). The move is a way of getting around replacing its systems – in this case the legacy CAP deposits and loan system and Vision Plus credit card platform. The latter is […]

ANZ CIO says old core banking system “not a hindrance”

The CIO of Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, says there are no plans to replace its CSC Hogan core banking system, despite the raft of revamps at rival banks. ANZ uses Hogan in Australia and CIO Scott Collary says it is “not a hindrance”. Hogan is now by and large in maintenance mode […]

Unisys revamps New Zealand’s Co-operative Bank IT infrastructure

Unisys Corporation’s New Zealand subsidiary has revamped the Co-operative Bank’s IT infrastructure using Unisys ClearPath Forward systems. Unisys says ClearPath Forward provides “enhanced security” for client and business information, as well as scalability to support the addition of new services. In addition, it says ClearPath ePortal, an automated application modernisation solution, will support the bank’s […]

ANZ pilots shared ledger for payments reconciliation

Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, is trialling a shared ledger in the reconciliation of international payments with an unnamed US bank. ANZ says it is not strictly using blockchain but the shared ledger will act in a similar way. Its objective is to reconcile cross-border payments between counterparties in real time. Nigel Dobson, […]

Calastone expands funds transaction network to New Zealand

London-based Calastone, the global funds transaction network, has expanded into New Zealand, and already carried out its first transaction with Australia. Calastone MD Australia, Sarah Hayward, says the firm’s extended cross border coverage enables transactions between Australian and New Zealand platforms, fund managers and respective counterparts. “Our expansion has been primarily driven by our Australian […]

Reserve Bank of New Zealand chooses SIA for new RTGS system

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), the nation’s central bank, has chosen Italian payments company SIA to implement and support a new real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system. The new system will replace the current exchange settlement account system (ESAS). It will be delivered by SIA’s subsidiary Perago, based in South Africa. Perago is a […]

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand opts for Numerix risk analytics software

New Zealand’s central bank, Reserve Bank, is implementing Numerix’s Oneview for trade valuation and risk management analytics. The system will support risk pricing and risk analytics, market standard trade valuation, and position and collateral management. “We are improving our technology and analytics capability in our domestic and foreign market operations,” says the bank’s deputy governor, […]

BPC’s SmartVista powers Warehouse Money cards, vendor’s largest retail project

BPC Banking Technologies says New Zealand’s largest retail chain – Warehouse Group – has chosen the SmartVista payments suite for its financial services business. The initiative is called “Warehouse Money” and offers the retailer’s consumers the chance to save 5% on purchases via a new Visa card or earn “purple dollars” via the Purple card. […]

How ANZ used mapping in its merger with National Bank

When ANZ decided to make its acquisition of New Zealand’s National Bank into a single brand, it had some wide-ranging rationalisation ahead of it to reduce costs while expanding service coverage. Software from Californian geographic information systems specialist Esri helped.

New Zealand joins BT Radianz Cloud

New Zealand’s NZX has joined BT Radianz Cloud, a network that connects to global markets, making it easier for international investors to access the New Zealand market, which is predominantly known for dairy products.