• Home
»
• News
»
• Sector News
»
• 2015
»
• New Zealand Bankers Association welcomes new member, new affiliate member

New Zealand Bankers Association welcomes new member, new affiliate member

Bank lobby group the New Zealand Bankers Association (NZBA) has unveiled its new affiliate membership program, along with its first affiliate member, MasterCard New Zealand.

NZBA Chief Executive Kirk Hope said the association had recently expanded its membership criteria. Previously, NZBA membership had been limited to banks registered under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act.

“The new affiliate membership category announced today allows us to formalise relationships we have with a range of organisations involved with banking in New Zealand. It also means those organisations can benefit from our reach and contacts across the banking sector,” Mr Hope said.

Peter Chisnall, MasterCard NZ country manager, said MasterCard’s membership of NZBA will formalise its ‘longstanding’ relationship with NZBA and help to continue to promote policy outcomes with particular interested to the continued evolution of the payments industry. NZBA has also welcomed the Bank of China as its first Chinese member bank.

Mr Hope said the arrival of a Chinese bank signified competition and diversity in the New Zealand banking sector.

“Bank of China (New Zealand) Limited is proud to be the first Chinese bank to join NZBA. We believe NZBA plays a very important role in the domestic banking industry,” said Bank of China (New Zealand) Executive Director David Wang.