BNZ has entered an enforceable undertaking with the Financial Markets Authority and agreed to pay $2.6 million to the Crown for breaches of the Financial Markets Conduct Act related to how interest was calculated on some BNZ non-profit accounts.

The issue arose due to a change in BNZ terms and conditions in 2014, which did not accurately describe the way interest was calculated for non-profit accounts.

BNZ CEO Dan Huggins says, “We accept the Financial Markets Authority’s findings and sincerely apologise to our customers who were impacted.”

“Once we became aware of the issue, we commenced a review, self-reported to the FMA, and took the product off sale. We have been working constructively with the FMA throughout its investigation.

“All impacted customers have been remediated, including use of money interest.

“Treating our customers fairly and delivering good customer outcomes is at the heart of what we do every day. We are committed to maintaining effective policies, processes, systems, and controls to help ensure this kind of issue does not occur again.”