sign up log in
Want to go ad-free? Find out how, here.

Kiwibank CEO Steve Jurkovich says the bank has been preparing for the likelihood of a negative OCR by looking closely at what it's likely to mean for product management and customer behaviour

Banking
Kiwibank CEO Steve Jurkovich says the bank has been preparing for the likelihood of a negative OCR by looking closely at what it's likely to mean for product management and customer behaviour
Steve Jurkovich. Photo Kiwibank.

*This article was published in our email for paying subscribers. See here for more details and how to subscribe.

We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.

Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.

13 Comments

A succinct article, lol

Up
0

Is this something to crow about?

- I am sure depositors arent rejoicing at the prospect of effectively no interest at all.
- Mortgage rates might edge lower but its the margin the banks are making thats left.
- Bank profitability will surely be hit.. so less of a dividend for the Govt, ACC and NZ Super.

So... depositors lose, taxpayers lose and borrowers may see some benefit, but only if banks pass it on. Oh yea.. super glad Kiwibank is ready Steve.

Up
0

Ah yes, we should definitely push make it harder to pay a mortgage so people with stacks of cash can get a slightly better return.

Up
0

House buyers may think lower rates are good news too, but the house prices will just rise to balance things out. So the servicing costs on the lower interest mortgage will be about the same, but they will also need a larger deposit, for an even more over priced house.

Up
0

And? They'll have a house and the stability that comes with it. Lower interest rates are the only thing that have had any meaningful impact on housing affordability in years. I'm not sure the social costs of plummeting home ownership rates should be overlooked in arguments about this sort of thing, given that meaningful intervention that will actually lower house prices seems basically impossible - but all we hear about how hard life is for *checks notes* people with spare cash.

Up
0

"Any examples...to relate" ?
Please give a single example where neg OCR has EVER WORKED ?
Kiwibank (aka govt post) is like Mr Orr just promoting what govt has told them to do.
Never worked in Europe 12 years ! Never working in Japan 20+ years !
Result death to your bond market.

Up
0

Also just increases the risk for savers who have no option but to look for riskier places for their money. No one wants to have their money in the bank being lent out , with the bank making money , but the person whose money it is, not making anything, or very little, and it is losing it's value due to inflation, plus house price inflation. Especially as it is still a risk having it in a bank, as no government guarantee.

Up
0

I still can't quite get moving to solar over the line.

But the prospect of negative interest rates, and growing concern about share markets keeps moving me a bit closer to sinking savings into going off grid. At least there'd be some very tangible return on capital there.

Up
0

I was wondering if I could use diesel and get over the line, works out pretty competitive.

Up
0

Surely as EVs become more widespread, there would be lots of 2nd batteries around to scavenge and bring the cost of storage down.

Up
0

Nah, there will also be more demand for 2nd hand batteries to rebuild packs for EVs. Rip the good cells out and rebuild the packs. Not sure if i'd want a house battery made up of all the reject cells that aren't good enough for cars anymore.

Up
0

What I want to know is why the lithium battery in my 1998 Toshiba laptop is still good but the battery in any laptop you buy these days lasts 5 or 6 years tops ? If EVs are the same you can forget it I can get 20 years out of a petrol engine.

Up
0

Most actively-cooled EVs have bugger all battery wear. The Leaf was a bad example because it had no cooling system and ran hot from driving and stayed hot when charging. Modern EVs (even the new Nissan) have proper cooling systems that will cool and warm the battery to the optimum point depending on what you're doing.

Up
0