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Finance Minister Nicola Willis has welcomed the Commerce Commission's report and recommendations into the banking sector, saying it confirmed what Kiwis had long suspected: "We are not getting a good deal from the big banks." Willis said the commission had conducted its work "fearlessly" and it's conclusions were robust. "It has provided actionable insights and our government is responding with urgency." She said the sector was dominated by four major players that made up 90 percent of the market. "They are highly profitable compared with international peers, they lack innovation and they do not aggressively compete for customers." No new banks had entered the market to challenge the status quo since Kiwibank was set up, Willis said. She was joining the commission to call out market behavi...

Photo: RNZ BNZ will no longer charge first-home buyers and other low-equity borrowers a higher interest rate. The bank said on Tuesday that as well as cutting home loan rates - its one-year rate is now 6.55 percent - it was moving to a single set of home loan fixed interest rates. Previously, it offered "standard" and" "classic" rates - classic rates were available to people who had more than 20 percent equity in their properties. BNZ said the classic rate had interest rates that were 60 basis points higher. Now, borrowers with less than 20 percent equity will be able to access standard rates, although they will still be charged a low-equity premium. This premium ranges 150bps for borrowers with deposit of less than 5 percent through to 35bps with those between 15 percent and 20 percent....

Photo: 123RF Many small businesses continue to resist the transition to digital payment systems despite growing demand from consumers. Research by global small business platform Xero indicates three quarters (75 percent) of consumers will use a physical bank card to pay in store, while one-in-seven (14 percent) will use their mobile phone. Only 8 percent of customers had cash available to pay in store, compared with nearly three quarters of small businesses (72 percent) who relied on cash to keep their business going. Xero country manager Bridget Snelling said only 17 percent of small businesses offered digital payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. "Aotearoa New Zealand has a long history of embracing innovative payment solutions, starting with the introduction of EFTPOS, whi...

File pic Photo: RNZ An Auckland fish trading company has been fined $360,000 and an employee jailed for buying and selling stolen fish. Sea World, which traded as Seamart and employee Marco Taukatelata, 49, were sentenced at the Auckland District Court on Friday on two charges under the Fisheries Act. Taukatelata was jailed for three years and seven months for his direct involvement in receiving and distributing thousands of dollars in illegally caught fish. A fisheries investigation found in the 11 months to November 2019, the company - a licensed fish receiver - supplied $348,000 worth of illegally obtained fish to other seafood companies. Over 97 cash transactions, there were 38,202 kilograms of snapper, 2761 kilos of kahawai and 1760 kilos of grey mullet taken - at a cash benefit to...