Briefs: New execs at SocietyOne and MyState, Wide Bay's name change, NAB tops up BNZ's capital, more

Banking Day staff
  • Australian peer-to-peer lending platform SocietyOne announced yesterday that Simon Schwarz will join the company as chief operating officer. Schwarz was the chief credit officer of the Australian arm of the global investment and private banking Investec Group. SocietyOne said his appointment would enable the firm "to continue to build operational and organisational proficiency as it embarks on rapid growth".

  • The banking and wealth management group MyState has appointed Paul Moss as its general manager of technology and operations, commencing on 13 May 2015. He has led KPMG's Tasmanian IT advisory practice since 2012, and previously was program director at the University of Tasmania for 18 months. Before that, he was director, information systems for Betfair Australia from 2006 to 2011.

  • As of 1 April, Wide Bay Australia will be known as Auswide Bank. It is the third building society to adopt bank status in recent years. This was as a necessary step towards further geographic diversification, away from a home market in coastal central Queensland, its management said.

  • National Australia Bank added capital of NZ$500 million to Bank of New Zealand this week. This is an increase of eight per cent on December 2014.

  • Retirees with the right mix of assets should be able to keep drawing down funds until the age of 90 or as late as 98, research from State Street Global Advisors with the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia has found. The report also found that the average couple in Australia will need a capital base of around A$500,000 to live comfortably in retirement assuming receipt of a part age pension, and the couple remaining relatively healthy and owning their own home.

  • New Zealand's poorest families will continue to be bait for loan sharks despite the recently released Responsible Lending Code, says New Zealand First. Newsroom reports the spokesperson for Social Development Darroch Ball as "wholeheartedly" agreeing with the Child Poverty Action Group, who said the Code would not protect vulnerable consumers against predatory lending. "The new code does not stop loan sharks from charging extreme interest rates to those in desperate need with nowhere else to go," Ball said.

  • New Zealand Banking Ombudsman Deborah Battell said her office had experienced an increase in complaints about credit card balance transfers due to competition between banks offering deals, reports Newsroom. "The trouble is some people aren't necessarily across the conditions that go with the deal and find themselves caught out when they get their statement. Transferring a credit card debt may help save on interest - as long as you're fully across how it works," Battell said.