BNZ closure still draws Raetihi's ire

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 619, 16 January 1996, Page 3

BNZ closure still draws Raetihi's ire

By

Rachel

wllliams

After 90 years of business in Raetihi the BNZ agency was closed, with no more than a brief letter of warning to its customers, on Friday 29 December. The residents of Raetihi are furious at the lack of public consultation and belie ve the closure will have far-reaching economic and social effects on the town and community. Ideally, said deputy mayor Bob Peck, the BNZ should have held a public meeting so customers could voice their opinions and a compromise over banking services offered could be negotiated. Instead the BNZ chose not to consult and now has to face the wrath of the community, which is currently being vented in the form of negative publicity. However, some

BNZ clients are so upset with the way they have been treated that they intend closing their accounts which they say is as good a method of communication as any, as economics seems to be the only language the BNZ understands. "I think everyone should pull away from them - 1 think they deserve no loyalty at all," said Dave Cawsey, proprietor of Price Cutter Raetihi. "The BNZ may have made a serious commercial mistake as I am going to bring a motion to the next council meeting that the Ruapehu District Council removes their account with the BNZ if the general manager for the BNZ will not negotiate," said Mr Peck. Bernice Frost, chairperson of the Raetihi business asso-

ciation, said the closing of the BNZ is the worst blow Raetihi has ever had. Bernice explained that many people who do their shopping in Raetihi only go to town once a week, and they are likely to do their shopping where they do their banking, which will be in Ohakune now that the BNZ agency in Raetihi is closed. Bernice also pointed out that a main form of pay-

ment to employees and contractors in rural areas is by cheque and with the new cheque laws, most cheques have to be deposited into a person' s bank account and cannot be cashed at a shop in Raetihi as previously was the case. It is human nature that people will spend a cheque where they can cash it, which she said will be in Ohakune now. Beeause of these two factors, Dave Cawsey says he and other business people foresee that their takings will be "dragged" over to Ohakune. Bob Peck says that the closing of the BNZ will upset many individuals, particularly the elderly who are less inclined to use eftpos or telephone banking, and also those who have no transport and must somehow find a way to get to Ohakune to cash a cheque. The only acceptable solution for Raetihi in the long term lies in the small chance that another bank would open in Raetihi. As the National Bank looks after the clients from the former Rural Bank and has a rural focus, Bernice Frost telephoned them in the hope they would be interested in opening an agency/hranch in Raetihi, but they were not. However, Dave Cawsey thinks another bank, with 100 per cent support from Raetihi and the outlying district, would be a success. Mr Cawsey added that the Trustbank agency in Raetihi did not provide enough services to be a viable alternative for businesses. The Bulletin faxed a set of questions to the BNZ 's head office in Wellington (as requested by them), but at the time of going to press they had not responded.