Banking, financial rating agency to keep increasing services

Banking and financial institutions rating agency Canstar New Zealand will continue to increase its services this year, although general manager Derek Bonnar admits that 18 categories could be close to saturation point.

The Canstar Gold division looks specifically at what products and services are offered by banks and financial institutions and rates them according to criteria provided by those parties.

When Mr Bonnar (44) joined Canstar about three years ago, he was told the company asked 250 questions on credit cards alone.

''I said 'no way can you ask that many questions'. But we do. I have the motto that we want to do the hard work for the consumer.''

Ratings on things like credit cards did not only take into account which were cheapest. Canstar looked for value and there was a trade-off between costs and features.

When consumers were looking at the published credit card ratings, they were encouraged to examine their own spending behaviour. If they did not pay off their balance each month, they should not chase cards with rewards as, in the end, it could cost them more through interest payments. People who paid off their cards on a monthly basis were free to go for the rewards, he said.

Canstar had been in New Zealand for 10 years, concentrating on the banking and financial sectors. Three years ago, the Australian-based board met to decide how best to develop the New Zealand operation, which had been serviced out of Brisbane, Mr Bonnar said.

''Their light-bulb moment was coming and talking to clients in New Zealand. They were told if they wanted to grow, they needed to stop flying in from Brisbane every two months to tell New Zealanders what they were doing right and wrong.''

The message was clearly that Canstar needed to appoint someone in New Zealand, he said.

Mr Bonnar was given the brief to expand the market, which he set about doing by adding categories to the financial ratings undertaken by Canstar.

This year, travel insurance, youth banking and everyday banking categories would be rated and awarded rating stars.

Last year, small business and agribusiness banking and KiwiSaver categories were added.

Financial institutions provided Canstar with data, which was then analysed by the 55 staff in Brisbane, who provided support in data collection, Mr Bonnar said.

Their role was not to ''cut and paste'' but to look at data from a New Zealand perspective.

''Giving credit to my Australian colleagues, they recognise that. It's about the New Zealandification of the data, and they understand that.''

Canstar had developed a close relationship with Credit Union South, in Dunedin, the credit union last year winning an innovation award.

In 2001, Canstar launched its Blue division, which focused on customer satisfaction. Each month, 2500 consumers were polled about their satisfaction with various products and the results were released publicly.

Before joining Canstar, Mr Bonnar spent two years as a senior fraud investigator with the Commerce Commission. Before the commission, he came from a background in banking.