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May 2020

Kiwisaver

Bank acted correctly over KiwiSaver withdrawal requests

Selma’s house was badly damaged by an earthquake. Not long afterwards, Selma deposited $90,000 into …

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April 2020

Concerns about lending decisions

Records revealed inadequate effort to assess whether lending affordable

Tahira earned the minimum wage, received Work and Income support and had bank debts totalling $25,00…

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April 2020

Privacy & confidentiality

Contacting customer’s employer a breach of privacy

Leon got into arrears with his credit card. He was living overseas but had a New Zealand address on …

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April 2020

Chargebacks / Common scams targeting bank customers

Customer responsible for transactions, even though probably drugged

Trey went to a bar while overseas, and during his visit three transactions totalling $15,000 were ch…

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March 2020

Closing accounts / Privacy & confidentiality

Bank lacked reason to close accounts immediately

Rory lived in Australia but had a bank account in New Zealand. He used online banking to access this…

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February 2020

Closing accounts

Bank gave reasonable notice about debt referral and account closure

Farid had a credit card and everyday account with his bank. When he lost his job and fell behind in …

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February 2020

Privacy & confidentiality

Bank erred in not seeking clarification before releasing information

Jia was executor of her late mother Suyin’s estate. Before Suyin died, Jia’s brother obtained statem…

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February 2020

Vehicle insurance

Bank’s response to insurance errors unacceptably slow

Piper went to the local branch of her bank in January 2018 to get an insurance policy for a car she …

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January 2020

Travel cards

Travel card’s offline restriction not sufficiently clear

Rosita’s travel card was declined by some merchants while overseas. Rosita complained to the bank wh…

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Case notes

Bank acted correctly over KiwiSaver withdrawal requests

Records revealed inadequate effort to assess whether lending affordable

Contacting customer’s employer a breach of privacy

Customer responsible for transactions, even though probably drugged

Bank lacked reason to close accounts immediately

Bank gave reasonable notice about debt referral and account closure

Bank erred in not seeking clarification before releasing information

Bank’s response to insurance errors unacceptably slow

Travel card’s offline restriction not sufficiently clear