Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

Even the Commissioner of Inland Revenue cannot avoid being a target for scammers.

The tax department on Thursday warned that people needed to be wary of social media scams impersonating well-known New Zealanders, including commissioner Peter Mersi.

Mersi was used as part of a scam inviting people to a webinar on crypto tax changes.

The Financial Markets Authority last year warned that scammers were impersonating celebrities, journalists, politicians and financial commentators.

Some were using deepfake videos to promote free investment advice WhatsApp groups and encouraging people to invest in fake investment platforms, it said at the time.

In 2024, a number of fake posts claimed to be RNZ news stories.

IR spokesperson Stephen Lynch said digital platforms were using sophisticated algorithms to push content to people based on their search history.

He said the latest posts did not show Peter Mersi. Incorrect versions of the Inland Revenue logo were being used and the invitation was not from anyone at the department.

“We believe whoever is behind the campaign is using false, probably AI generated, images and messaging to trick people into giving out personal information which is then used to access online accounts or steal someone’s identity.

“Inland Revenue investigates and searches for scams so we can pass the details on to the social media platforms they appear on to have the ads taken down. Following notifications to Meta, this series of ads claiming to be from IR was taken down only to reappear, slightly altered, the next day.

“Unfortunately, the use of images and artificially generated likenesses is on the increase with investment scams on social media platforms and websites being a major contributor to New Zealanders losing $265 million dollars to fraud last year.”

Lynch said Inland Revenue had received more than 3000 reports of scams from the public in the three months to the end of February.

He said scammers were aware of important tax periods and increased their efforts at that time.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland has seen the biggest growth in consumer spending in two years, with modest growth holding steady elsewhere.

Consumer spending processed through all core retail merchants in Worldline NZ’s payments network during February reached $3.686 billion or 2.2 percent up on February 2025, including the comings and goings of merchants on its network.

The Auckland/Northland region was a standout with a 2.8 percent increase in spending over the year earlier – the biggest year-on-year growth the region had seen in a single month in nearly two years.

Worldline NZ chief sales officer Bruce Proffit said it was encouraging to see a positive consumer spending trend since the start of the year.

“While the annual growth rate is relatively low and spending did not increase across all sectors and regions, it’s still heartening to see that total spending is up at this point of the year, and, most notably, up in New Zealand’s largest region,” he said.

“Noticeably so far this year, the South Island pattern remains similar, although Wellington spending is still below year-ago levels. Waikato remains one of the fastest growth regions and its spending level surpassed that of Wellington – not by much, but for the third month in a row.”

Annual growth rates for core retail spending was highest in Palmerston North (+4.5 percent), Otago (+3.8 percent) and Waikato (+3.7 percent), while spending declines were highest percentage-wise in Wairarapa (-2.3 percent) and Gisborne (-1.7 percent).

Valentine’s Day hit by bad weather

Worldline data indicates consumer spending on flowers and jewellery spiked in the days before and including Valentine’s Day although overall spending was down on last year, with wet weather likely a factor in dampening romantic retail spirits across the nation.

Total spending through florist and watch/jewellery merchants in Worldline NZ’s payments network was down over the year earlier by more than 14 percent to $4.8m over the two days ending Saturday 14 February.

However, data also suggests Southland and Palmerston North were still willing to splash the cash to celebrate the most romantic day of the year.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – The war raging in the Middle East is affecting supply chains, and New Zealand isn’t immune. What exactly is being disrupted?

There’s a devastating human cost to the conflict, but it’s also worrying many about the impacts on a global economy that’s been battered by years of pandemic, wars and political uncertainty.

With the ongoing conflict between the US, Israel and Iran in the Middle East, the first thing you’re likely to notice in New Zealand is a rise in costs. Here’s why.

What are supply chains?

Basically, it’s how things get to you, and in the modern world it’s an intricate web of travel between trains, boats and trucks.

New Zealand is particularly reliant on supply chains thanks to our geographical isolation – anything that comes into the country has to come via boat or air.

A supply chain doesn’t just mean oil – it includes food, dairy, construction materials and even your latest widget ordered from Temu.

A 2023 report conducted for the Treasury described New Zealand’s international supply chains as “thin and stretched,” noting they could become “more costly and exposed to increased disruptions – reducing the efficiency of the New Zealand economy”.

Our economy utterly depends on imports and exports – Stats NZ says New Zealand’s total annual exports hit $80.7 billion in the year ended December 2025.

Hang on, we’re pretty far away, how reliant are we on the Middle East?

Extremely.

You’ll have been hearing a lot about the Hormuz Strait, which is a narrow passageway between the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iran that is the only way out of the Persian Gulf. It carries around a fifth of the world’s oil and a large amount of natural gas, but shipping lanes there have been mostly suspended during the current war.

The New York Times has reported that just one or two oil and gas tankers are crossing the strait daily this week – typically around 80 do.

One New Zealand logistics company has said it has the equivalent of 4000 cargo containers in transit in that trade lane, all affected by this week’s conflict.

Between 12 to 15 percent of the entire world’s trade also goes through the region’s Suez Canal, and about 30 percent of global container traffic.

Sherelle Kennelly, chief executive of NZ Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarder, told RNZ’s Afternoons that her industry has learned to be flexible.

“Freight forwarders are really good at pivoting and sort of dealing with crises as they come to hand. This has become part of our DNA now.”

The Hormuz Strait is “one of the most critical marine choke points in the world”, she said.

“The escalations and disruptions immediately impact on oil prices, shipping insurance, freight rate and general global supply and trade confidence as well.”

It’s also a big export market for us – the countries making up the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, were our sixth largest export market in the year to June 2025, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

The Meat Industry Association said nearly all our exports to the Gulf Co-operation Council, which were worth $298 million last year, go through Hormuz.

“If Hormuz is closed, congestion and delays will primarily impact chilled exports to the Middle East, which were worth $166 million last year,” an association spokesperson told RNZ.

Why could prices rise because of this?

Kennelly said backlogs and delays have a ripple effect, even if we may not see it instantly.

“What that means for consumers in New Zealand is delays in shipping, the domino effect of shipping lines, the schedules all go out of whack, and then ultimately the price of fuel increases, the shipping rates increase, and then that just spirals through to the checkout for New Zealanders.”

New Zealand doesn’t import crude oil directly from the Middle East anymore, but a huge amount of the world’s oil comes through there, and it’s all connected in the end.

“The Middle East is a key part of the world’s energy supply and so how that trends will have an impact on fuel prices,” Infometrics chief economist Brad Olsen told Checkpoint recently.

“There is a wider concern here that unlike previous challenges in the Middle East and conflicts that you’ve seen in recent years this one looks much more regional and does seem to be expanding.”

If the war continues, it could even hit your interest rates, one analysis found.

During last year’s conflict with the US bombing Iranian nuclear sites, MFAT issued an analysis noting that: “Rising energy costs would weigh on consumer spending, economic activity, and may force the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to hike interest rates in response”.

“A major geopolitical event, such as an escalating or wider regional conflict in the Middle East, would transmit to the New Zealand economy through several channels,” that report noted.

“Oil markets are thinking that there’s at least three months of possible disruption here,” Olsen said.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis told Morning Report on Wednesday that the overseas conflict and global uncertainty was tough on exporters, but information was being provided to them by the government.

“I do want to acknowledge our exporters have been incredibly adaptable but boy oh boy, is it tough for them.”

How have past disruptions been handled?

The Middle East region is a vulnerable chokepoint for global commerce, and not always because of war.

In 2021, the Ever Given container ship ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal for six days, creating a massive backlog of ships, and the impacts stretched right through to New Zealand-bound freight.

Houthi militants in Yemen have also repeatedly disrupted trade in the Red Sea by attacking vessels.

Severe droughts affected the Panama Canal, another prime maritime route, in 2023.

New Zealand has looked at ways to make its supply chain more resilient, such as diversifying suppliers, increasing inventory buffers and securing alternative transport routes.

“There is the possibility of exporters using alternative routes that avoid the Strait of Hormuz,” MFAT’s 2025 report noted. “These include overland routes from ports in Oman or Saudi Arabian ports on the Red Sea.”

However, alternate routes are likely to increase transport costs for exporters, MFAT said.

The government’s work to secure free trade deals with India and China has also helped ensure our supply chains don’t have to just rely on the narrow Red Sea corridor.

That doesn’t help businesses caught up in the immediate Iran situation, though.

“For New Zealand exports if they’re already on the water … that stuff can’t be redirected, it’s sitting out there on the water,” Olsen said.

Global trade requires supply chains to work, ultimately.

“We’ve got our products, we’ve got to get our products to market and the markets are not in the New Zealand region,” Kennelly said.

What’s next?

The short answer is, nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen yet with Iran, Israel, the US and several other countries now involved in open conflict, and US President Donald Trump has been criticised by some for a lack of clarity in what the long-term goal is.

“I don’t think anyone could realistically tell you how long this is going to be and what the impact of this long-term or short-term,” Kennelly said.

Export New Zealand executive director Joshua Tan earlier this week told RNZ that exporters keep a close eye on developments.

“Companies learnt some really valuable lessons about resilience during Covid – certainly the need to increase communications up and down the supply chain, improving relationships with customers and also those logistics providers, but then also the need to consider a just-in-case inventory model in markets and holding higher stock levels overseas.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government’s finances are in better than expected shape as spending has fallen while the tax take is steady.

Treasury figures, which exclude ACC finances, show a deficit of $6 billion for the seven months ended January, about $1.9b below the December half year forecast.

The deficit including ACC costs was $6.5b, also well below forecast.

The tax take was fractionally lower as dips in company, investment and tobacco charges, were offset by higher income tax receipts.

Expenses were more than a billion dollars lower, as IRD clawed back unpaid tax, spending on core government services, health and environment programmes were lower.

Net debt was slightly lower than expected at 41.9 percent of the value of the economy.

… More to come

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Australian controlled mining company Tāiko Critical Minerals to list on NZ stock exchange (NZX)
• Company planning heavy minerals mining venture near Greymouth, production in 2028
• NZX listing aimed at widening investor base
• Selected wholesale NZ investors offered shares
• Taiko plans to raise more capital later in year

An Australian controlled company, Tāiko Critical Minerals, debuts on the NZX today, offering local investors a chance to participate in the company’s West Coast mining venture.

The company plans to mine rare earth heavy metals from farmland at Barrytown near Greymouth, using what it calls a rehabilitative mining process.

Chief executive Robert Brand said the NZX listing was aiming to strengthen its long term finances, and introduce local investors.

“Expanding our investor base and having greater access to growth capital are critical enablers of our plans to extract from a ‘world class’ deposit in an emerging high-value sector for the New Zealand economy, and to deliver long-term value for our shareholders.”

Taiko, originally named Tiga Resources, is targeting ilmenite, garnet, zircon, rutile and rare earth element concentrates, which it says are present in high quantities at the site.

The minerals will be extracted and processed at nearby Rapahoe, before export.

Following capital raising, construction and commissioning of the extraction and separation facilities will take place in 2027 ahead of commercial production in 2028.

Brand said the venture would provide jobs and revenue for the local community.

“In the year ahead we’ll be employing the first group of 135 workers, with a further 189 support roles expected in future. “

“There are also quite a few houses to build and plant to be constructed ahead of an expected $11.8 million in local wages and $112.5m in annual export earnings, so there is a lot to look forward to as this project starts to get up and running.”

Brand said Taiko would be looking to raise new capital later in the year, and had already sold shares to New Zealand wholesale investors.

The majority of the company’s shares are owned by Australian investors. The shares have been valued at 11 NZ cents each.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Organisations helping house rough sleepers are relying on private landlords to open their doors, amid a shortage of social homes.

With the government limiting further social housing builds, Housing First providers are eyeing up market rentals – but the perfect properties, and owners, are hard to find.

However, one landlord said he “could not get better” than leasing through Housing First.

The government-backed programme helps chronically homeless people into housing, giving them long-term support to sustain their tenancy.

The idea is in the name – house people first, then deal with any mental health, addiction or other problems they may have.

Research shows it’s effective, with participants spending less time in hospital and mental health units, having fewer criminal charges, and higher incomes.

Wellington’s Downtown Community Ministry (DCM) rental procurement manager Shaun Monaghan said his organisation had about 200 people in its Housing First programme, and about 34 of them are still without a home – sleeping rough.

The organisation was granted 30 of the extra 300 government-funded places dished out last year.

But Monaghan said the actual homes is what they were short of, and DCM found itself leaning heavily on private landlords.

“It’s a little bit out of kilter. Our preference would be to have a steady stream of housing that is backed by central government to allow their programme to work efficiently, rather than relying on a private market which may not have suitable housing and which may not have the right landlord that wants to step into that space.”

Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said the government was backing more housing supply by partnering with Kāinga Ora, community housing providers and Māori housing providers across the country.

Elizabeth Lester is the chief executive of Dwell Housing Trust – a community housing organisation that manages the tenancies on behalf of the property owner and DCM.

She gave RNZ her pitch for property owners with empty rentals.

“It’s a tough property market out there right now and we can offer a three-year lease, fixed market rentals, no property management fees, and a professional property management company that’s been around for 45 years, so they don’t have to worry about a thing,” she said.

“We will take care of it.”

Housing First appealed to different kinds of landlord, Lester said.

“At first we sort of thought it would be people who are socially minded, and we do have those kind of landlords, but we also have landlords who are just … in a pickle right now and need that long term security, and that’s okay.”

Lester said the government’s support of Housing First in Wellington would make a huge difference, but its plans to move on rough sleepers are a backwards step.

“What I just ask for is patience, because the move on policy really feels counterproductive to the good work we’re doing here,” she said.

“We are so focused on these long-term solutions, we’re focused on what works, and we know that Housing First works, so let’s do more of it.”

Potaka said move-on orders are separate from Housing First and serve a different purpose.

‘Cannot get better’ than leasing through Housing First – property owner

Tejinder Singh’s nine Papatoetoe two-bedroom rentals all house people who were formerly sleeping rough.

For him, it was both a social good and a smart investment.

“What you really are after normally is good, solid tenants, long-term tenants, and it cannot get better than these people,” he said.

“They give you a long-term lease, whether you want three years or five years, and the rent is paid on time … you’re not having to find tenants … they don’t give you notice and leave.”

The property investor and real estate agent rents the homes through Housing First provider, LinkPeople.

He acknowledged people may worry about who they were opening up their homes to.

“Even in [the] normal private market, you can find tenants who are not good, that’s just how it is.”

Singh had “no issues”, nor any complaints from the neighbours.

He was so impressed he planned to build more homes to be leased through Housing First.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Trade Me is removing success fees for casual sellers, in a move that one marketing expert says is probably a response to the growing power of Facebook Marketplace.

Sellers have usually been paying 7.9 percent of the final sales price of items sold via Trade Me.

But a new fee structure will remove them from next week and site spokesperson Lisa Stewart said casual sellers would be better off.

It is making other changes at the same time: Bank transfers will not be possible and Ping will be offered on every listing alongside cash and Afterpay, with a 2.19 percent transaction fee for the seller. This provides buyer protection up to $5000 if trades go wrong.

Buyers will also pay a new service fee based on the purchase price, if items are more than $20. This will be 99c for goods sold for $20.01 to $100, $1.99 for sales between $100.01 and $250 and $4.99 for items over $4.99. Stewart said 44 percent of trades were under $20.

Stewart said it was a response to customer feedback and what was happening in the market.

“We are hearing two things really clearly. The first is customers really value the safety and protection we provide, but fees are becoming more of a barrier to selling. And so with these changes, we’re looking to respond to both of those things.

‘While most fraudulent activities on Trade Me are resolved quickly, 90 percent of the scams that we couldn’t help our members with last year involved bank transfers. These payments happen outside our system, making it much more difficult for us to step in and help when things go wrong. Once a buyer sends money this way, those funds are often gone for good, and we have zero visibility over the transaction. That’s not a risk we want for our community.

“We’re committed to making every trade safer, which is why we’re moving away from bank transfers in favour of our secure payment systems.”

Massey University marketing expert Bodo Lang said it was likely to be in response from growth in the use of Facebook Marketplace, which offers no protection for buyers but charges no fees.

“Facebook Marketplace has certainly been snapping at their heels … I think it could also be seen as a move to make pricing more transparent because it’s not always easy for someone who’s selling something to understand exactly what the fee will be.”

He said a younger generation might feel more comfortable buying and selling on social media and would be less inclined to think of Trade Me.

“[With Facebook] it’s easier to actually get hold of people and close the deal whereas for Trade Me you have to wait until the auction is over and there’s a bit more of a rigid process to follow whereas Facebook Marketplace is very organic and sort of consumer-to-consumer that just happens to be facilitated by a platform … convenience is such a big driver of behaviour.”

Stewart said Facebook Marketplace was one of Trade Me’s biggest competitors.

“Like all businesses, we do keep an eye on what they’re up to. But ultimately, this is about listening to what our customers want and creating the best experience that we possibly can.”

She said Trade Me had been around 27 years and this would help set it up for the next 27.

The buyer fee would go towards keeping the platform operating and allow it to keep offering local support.

Stewart said she was selling a pram and hoping to get $100. At the moment she would pay about $8 in success fees. Under the new rules she would pay no success fee but about $2 in Ping fees. The buyer would pay a 99c service fee.

“In total, our customers will be paying about $5 less in fees for a transaction of about $100.”

There is no change for vehicle sales, property or professional sellers.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Upturns have to start somewhere, and February could have been the beginning for the housing market, Cotality says.

It has released its latest data which shows property values lifted 0.2 percent in February, the strongest increase since October last year.

The national median value was $806,697, still 1.2 percent down on a year ago and 17.3 percent lower than the 2022 peak.

Hamilton and Dunedin experienced a lift of 0.9 percent in the month while Auckland was up only 0.1 percent. Wellington was up 0.4 percent and Christchurch 0.6 percent.

Over a year, Wellington was down 1.4 percent, Auckland down 3.2 percent and Christchurch up 2.8 percent.

Chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said the stronger results could be a sign of things to come but it was still early days.

With sales activity trending upwards for some time now, mortgage rates down, and the economy showing signs of a pick-up, a re-emergence of modest gains in property values this year would not be a surprise, he said.

“The labour market probably holds the key, and most forecasts suggest that employment has already troughed, with the unemployment rate set to fall from now on.

“That being said, a modest lift in national property values in a single month in February is nothing to get carried away about.”

He said there would need to be increases for two or three more months before it could be a trend.

“Upturns do start somewhere. And I guess with those underlying fundamentals, we’re sort of watching for that.

“It was the strongest rise we’ve seen for three or four months and I think probably the more notable thing is just the broad-based nature of it. We saw increases across all the main centres which hasn’t happened for quite some time.”

He said provincial areas were still strong thanks to healthy farming activity.

“That’s going to be providing some cash into those markets and some liquidity into those markets.”

Election impact

Davidson said the looming election could also have an effect.

“We know there’s going to be chat around capital gains tax. You could imagine discussion around interest deductibility. I think the election is probably looming fairly large for investors. We are seeing investors active in the market now but you wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if there’s a wee bit of a hiatus there as we get closer to the election as they weigh up what parties are saying and what it might mean in terms of tax bills.”

Conflict in the Middle East was not yet a factor.

“In the near term it would be slightly inflationary. Maybe in the medium term depending on how long it lasts it could be disinflationary in the sense that you get a slowing economy and that weighs on inflation. I think it depends on the time period you’re looking at, how long will this last?

“I don’t think the Reserve Bank will necessarily be rushing to do anything, just sort of sitting back and waiting to see how that all plays out.

“They have been pretty consistent in saying they think there’s spare capacity out there so that should eventually bring inflation back down potentially even with some sort of shock coming through from oil prices or shopping costs.”

He said more borrowers were choosing to fix for longer. About 30 percent of existing home loans were fixed and not due to reprice for at least a year, the highest share since February 2024.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A batch of Steinlager beer is being recalled for having incorrect alcohol-free labels.

Lion has announced a recall of over 2500 cases of Steinlager Ultra Low Carb 24-packs, saying that clear bottles with alcohol-free labels are not alcohol free.

In a statement, the company said that Steinlager Alcohol Free is only sold in green bottles, not clear bottles.

It said a customer complained about the mistake, and the company then found out there was an error in its production run, meaning beer containing 4.2 percent of alcohol was incorrectly labelled.

The 24-packs may contain a mix of alcoholic, and non-alcoholic beers. In total, 2538 cases of the 24-packs are potentially affected.

The cases affected have a best-before date of 21 October 2026.

Lion apologised for the error and said it would be conducting a full investigation, ensuring the error did not happen again.

“We are working with customers to recall the product in any retail stores including supermarkets and liquor stores as well as wholesalers and hospitality venues.”

It said anyone who should not drink alcohol should not drink the product.

“Anyone who may have consumed this product and is concerned about their health, should consult their health care professional.

“Through a nationwide recall procedure we are working with the food safety authorities and retailers to remove impacted product from the market as a priority.”

New Zealand Food Safety chief executive Vincent Arbuckle said the recall would be worrying for many.

“I am very mindful that this recall will be concerning for a range of consumers who have medical, cultural, or lifestyle reasons why they select non-alcoholic beverages.

“As is our usual practice, NZFS will work with Lion NZ to understand how this happened and prevent it recurring,” Arbuckle said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Some people are resorting to withdrawing money from their KiwiSaver accounts to clear Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) debt, financial mentors say, in a new report that indicates recent reforms are not helping consumers.

The report by Consumer NZ and financial mentor network Fincap, with assistance from Victoria University, was released on Wednesday.

BNPL allows people to buy goods or services and pay them off, interest-free, over a set number of weeks. The main providers in New Zealand are Afterpay, Klarna, Zip and Payright.

When payments are missed, late fees are charged.

Before September 2024, BNPL was not subject to consumer credit lending requirements under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act, because they were not covered by the definition due to not charging interest.

Now, some of the provisions of that act apply, including a requirement that borrowers are given key information about the contracts, and lenders comply with some responsible lending obligations.

But the new research found that all BNPL providers had taken up the option to use credit checks and reporting instead of full affordability assessments on borrowers.

This seemed not to be stopping people from getting into problem debt, it said.

“The fact that BNPL providers must obtain a credit report on new customers and when increasing an existing customer’s spend limit is positive to a degree, in that it means the BNPL provider will have a more informed picture of the customer’s financial position. However, BNPL providers are not legally required to use the information obtained through the credit report to assess whether the customer can afford the loan.”

The report said New Zealand should require affordability assessments for BNPL lending, too.

Report author Victoria Stace noted that the UK and Australia were moving to require more comprehensive affordability assessments. She said that seemed to indicate that affordability assessments would be feasible, and that the current system was not adequate.

BNPL providers remain exempt from a requirement that they not charge unreasonable fees and the report said some still had policies letting them charge “disproportionately high” late payment fees.

The report said BNPL should also have limits on fees.

“The problem with high late payment fees, or multiple late payment fees across purchases, is that they can lead to financial overcommitment/overindebtedness, resulting in consumers borrowing more money to repay BNPL debts or forgoing other essential goods and services.”

The report said “quasi BNPL” such as where a business might offer a payment system for its own goods or services, should be regulated in the same way as traditional BNPL.

“From the consumer’s perspective, the service is the same: they receive a good or service early, must pay instalments and can be charged late fees if they default.”

Stace said the Fincap data showed the number of people presenting with BNPL debt had not gone down since the reforms.

“BNPL is fairly easy to get and it seems to have replaced what we used to have… we used to have payday loans where if people were really desperate for money they could go out and it would be reasonably straightforward to get a high-cost loan from a payday lender.

“We don’t have that facility so much anymore because of the regulation around high-cost lending. It seems that this is the go-to form of credit for people who are struggling to pay for things and it seems relatively easy to get.

“It obviously works well for those who can afford it and pay off their instalments in the requisite timeframe and don’t incur penalties but it doesn’t work well if people who can’t really afford it but can still get access to a BNPL facility.”

Jake Lilley, senior policy adviser at Fincap, said people were still presenting to mentors with BNPL debt and in budget deficit.

The report noted that mentors said BNPL providers were willing to work with people in hardship to match repayments to what they could afford but people were often reluctant to cancel their accounts.

“They’re really worried about how they’ll survive without BNPL,” he said.

“Almost viewing it like an emergency fund or an overdraft … it’s quite a harsh change to get off the treadmill of constantly borrowing for essentials. And so people weren’t opting to take up those hardship arrangements. It’s a really wicked problem… people are taking out KiwiSaver hardship to keep those accounts alive.”

He said people thought of the accounts as something they really needed. “We need to look at how people are responding to it and get smart in terms of protections to make sure we don’t get trapped.”

Mentors said BNPL providers were quick to send loans to debt collection.

The report said they also noted BNPL was sometimes accessed after other loan repayments had become unaffordable because affordability requirements that other lenders were subject to had ruled out other credit options.

Lilley said it was now up to Parliament to give the Financial Markets Authority new responsibilities and powers to be able to action the report’s recommendations.

“While that progresses we also need moves to licence debt collectors at the FMA so we are in a position to monitor the fairness of how unaffordable BNPL loans are collected over the coming years.”

Afterpay has been approached for comment.

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