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Speaker 1: Westpac wants to introduce a new type of basic bank

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Speaker 1: account to make sure people who struggle to get a

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Speaker 1: normal bank account aren't left out in the cold. The

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Speaker 1: bank has just published a report that looked into this.

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Speaker 1: It suggests a basic transaction account could decrease the unbanked population.

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Speaker 1: These are people like people who have cognitive disabilities, former

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Speaker 1: and current prisoners, bankrupts, and young people from tougher backgrounds. So,

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Speaker 1: Katherine McGrath is Westpac's chief executive and joints me. Now,

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Speaker 1: Hello Catherine, hi, Andrew, are you good? So what are

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Speaker 1: the reasons why people might not have access to a

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Speaker 1: bank account.

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Speaker 2: Well, it can be a number of things. Proof of

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Speaker 2: our identity and proof of address tend to be really

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Speaker 2: important things to open a bank account, and that's important

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Speaker 2: for anti money laundering legislation. But it can also inadvertently

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Speaker 2: cause real barriers. And that could be because somebody doesn't

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Speaker 2: have a driver's license, for example. It could be because

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Speaker 2: hard for them to get their birth certificates, or it

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Speaker 2: could be because they've been in prison and their bank

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Speaker 2: has closed their bank account.

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Speaker 1: And of course you come out of prison, you can't

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Speaker 1: get a bank account. You try to get a job,

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Speaker 1: they won't put your money into. They can't put your

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Speaker 1: money into a bank account. Therefore you can't get the job,

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Speaker 1: and it becomes a vicious circle.

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Speaker 2: That's right. So we think it's incredibly important that banking

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Speaker 2: is as inclusive as possible because it makes it easier

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Speaker 2: for all of us to fully participate in communities. But

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Speaker 2: there are some segments that have a greater risk, and

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Speaker 2: so having an account with more limited features might be

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Speaker 2: able to help resolve this issue or at least make

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Speaker 2: it less bad than it is today.

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Speaker 1: Well, how is a basic bank account different from a

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Speaker 1: regular bank account?

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Speaker 2: So they have basic bank accounts in the UK, where

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Speaker 2: I spent quite a bit of time in that market,

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Speaker 2: They don't have overdrafts. The type of transactions can be

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Speaker 2: a wee bit restricted. If we're giving bank accounts to

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Speaker 2: people who we're slightly worried about, we might monitor the

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Speaker 2: transactions more closely, and that's with the agreement of the

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Speaker 2: person that's opened the account, and so they minimize the

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Speaker 2: breast for the bank, but still let somebody fully participate

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Speaker 2: in terms of getting regular payments in and being able

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Speaker 2: to make their payments out.

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Speaker 1: Now, you gave me a UK example, and that's because

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Speaker 1: you're not offering a basic bank account yet, because you

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Speaker 1: want all banks to be offering these basic bank accounts.

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Speaker 1: So the question is why aren't they all or the

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Speaker 1: other question could be why don't you just crack on?

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Speaker 2: So I think traditionally in New Zealand it hasn't necessarily

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Speaker 2: been seen as a particular issue. We're doing it as

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Speaker 2: a more ad hoc process at the moment, and some

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Speaker 2: of this insight has come from a broader reports that

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Speaker 2: we've done in terms of the million New Zealanders who

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Speaker 2: identify with having some form of disability, because if you

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Speaker 2: have cognitive disabilities, or visual disabilities, or even address disabilities,

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Speaker 2: those are things that can cause challenges when you're trying

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Speaker 2: to open a bank account. So we are doing it

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Speaker 2: to some extent, but we think as an industry approach,

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Speaker 2: including with the regulators, that could make it easier to

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Speaker 2: do so, working with the regulators and then ensuring that

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Speaker 2: everybody across the industry does do their past, because otherwise

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Speaker 2: you've got one segment who's frankly banking people who don't

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Speaker 2: really make the money because it's the right thing to do.

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Speaker 2: We think that's a responsibility that should be shared across

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Speaker 2: the industry.

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Speaker 1: And there's lots of barriers for people in all areas

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Speaker 1: of banking. For instance, if you don't have braille on

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Speaker 1: a pin machine, on your pin thing, then the blind

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Speaker 1: can't do it. I know of one bloke who says,

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Speaker 1: when you can't figure out where the buttons are, you

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Speaker 1: end up with two choices who either walk out or

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Speaker 1: you give somebody your pin and you don't want to

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Speaker 1: do either.

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Speaker 2: Completely agree. So designing products and services so they work

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Speaker 2: for everybody is really important. So whether that's on an

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Speaker 2: FoST terminal, making sure that it's got tactile thing so

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Speaker 2: it's easy to work out where the numbers are, which

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Speaker 2: is something that we've been working with our providers to do.

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Speaker 2: That's a really good thing to do. A number of

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Speaker 2: banks in New Zealand, including US, have debit and credit

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Speaker 2: cards with notches and braille on them, so that makes

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Speaker 2: it easier as well. And then I think another important group.

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Speaker 2: We've been doing training with our teams about recognizing what

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Speaker 2: the sunflower lanyard or pin indicates. And that's someone who's

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Speaker 2: saying I might need extra help, which may not be

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Speaker 2: that visible to you. So because I'm wearing this lanyard

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Speaker 2: or this pin. Please ask me what additional help I need.

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Speaker 2: And I think that's a great way of uncovering in

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Speaker 2: a way that feels good to everybody. What additional support

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Speaker 2: could be required.

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Speaker 1: It's a great idea. Katherine McGrath, Westpactief Executive, joining me

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Speaker 1: on the basic bank account.

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