July 23, 2025 • 9 mins
Federated Farmers’ new banking spokesman on the latest survey ranking the banks, which has revealed how the country’s biggest rural lenders are performing in the eyes of farmers, by ranking the banks from best to worst. Also, the Com/Com dismissed the Feds’ complaint on net-zero banking.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's just kick off the show with Mark Hooper, the
new Federated Farmers Banking spokesperson. Sorry about the delay there,
I was just getting a call from Ryan Bridge's producer
from the Herald now about a slot tomorrow morning. Doesn't
she know I'm on air between twelve and one anyhow,
(00:20):
Mark Hooper, welcome to the country. I think for the
first time, big big shoes to fill Richard McIntire's or
big gum boots.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yeah, very much. Being now on Jamie, Richard's done an
outstanding job in his role and so there's a but
to live up there. Up to there, it's going to
be a challenge, but looking forward to it though.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Now are you based on the Taranaki. You've obviously got
to be a cow cocky you got nothing else.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Up there, that's right, yep, yep, No, that's the way
to go.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
So tell us about your farming operation. Just quickly give
us a wee background.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Oh, we're very traditional Saranecki farmers, fourth generation on a
family farm, three hundred and twenty cows, owner operators. So
balancing between you know what I do with feds in
and now the care ship.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Now you've been involved, I think with feeds on the
national board for about four years, so you've got a
few runs on the board. So let's have a look
at this banking survey, ranking the banks from the best
to the worst. For the first time, Federated Farmers has
asked farmers to tell us how the banks are stacking up.
You surveyed six hundred and eighty one farmers in May
(01:36):
and found Rabobank and A and Z were the top
performing rural banks, sharing first place on the podium. So
you've rated these banks over several criteria the mortgage rate,
the overdraft rate, the undue pressure, their communications quality, the
mental health side of it, overall satisfaction, and that gives
(01:59):
you a final grow. I'll start with Rabobank top equal.
I've got a final grade of A minus alongside an Z.
That'll please Antonio Watson. So what have you got to
moan about if you're giving a bank's an A minus rating.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, well, let's not confuse the topics here. So obviously,
the banking survey is actually something that we've done for
a period of ten years and it's been reported in
various fashions, and so this is an opportunity I guess
to do something a little bit different, a little bit
(02:37):
constructive with that data. So this is an opportunity just
to provide a bit of transparency for those banks in
terms of what is the information that federraiated Farmers members
who respond to that survey are giving back to us.
So they are the ones that we represent, and so
we wanted to do something constructive with that data and
(02:59):
have come up with this report card idea, which is
the report card itself as obviously these numbers behind it,
but we've tried to make it a little a little
bit lighter and a little bit more transparent by just
converting it into an old form high school.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Well, I was going to say, it's like your high
school report card. I remember in the fourth form having
to actually with the set of scissors cut off the
principal's comment at the bottom because I didn't want my
father to read it. He would have kicked me right
up the backside if he'd read that. Bless him now. Okay,
So Rabobank Todd Charteris will be very pleased to hear this.
Rabobank received the highest scores for overall satisfaction, communication quality,
(03:43):
and overdraft rate. A n Z scored the best farmer
ratings for mortgage rates, the level of undue pressure felt
by farmers, and mental health scores. So they topped three
of the six categories each and that got them a
tie at the top with the A minus. Let's look
at the poorer performers. Westpac came in at third place
(04:05):
with A C plus B and Z fourth place C
minus a SB last place A D. What are those
other banks doing wrong?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Well, I think if you look at if you look
at those top performers A and Z RAO, they've they've
worked quite closely with with federad farmers. They've engaged, you know,
pretty heavily with the with the rural sector. So they're obviously,
you know, looking at what solutions are, what are the
(04:38):
concerns that farmers have got, and it would seem that
you know, they're addressing those pretty well, as you mentioned,
across those six categories, between the two of them, they
all took the top spot. And I think this is
an idea here. A follow up from this is that,
you know, we want to reach out to each of
the banks and provide a little bit more detailed in
(05:00):
terms of the feedback. Obviously, we've just gone for the
high level report cards here, and so I think that's
the opportunity just to provide a bit of feedback and say, hey,
these are there's some low hanging fruit here for these
lower ones. You know, it's a few tweaks and changes
and they could easily jump up the rankings a little bit.
So in this regard, you know, we've got the whole
(05:22):
banking inquiry stuff going on separately, but this is something
that we're happy to make a little bit positive, a
little bit constructive reach out, engage with the banks on
its and see if we can help get some better outcomes.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Mark Cooper with us FED Farmer's New Banking spokespers and
I guess to be rabobank, they specialize in agri lending.
That's all they do. If they can't become or be
top of the class, I guess something's wrong. And I
guess the other connection with an Z is there. Background
is obviously come through the National Bank which took over
the book of the Rural Bank. So I think that've
(05:56):
still got the biggest rural portfolio ASP trailing in last place.
I want to declare a conflict of interest here, but
I private bank with ASB couldn't ask for better service.
It's brilliant. I'm also an equity partnership on a farm
asb's banking that I could ask for better service. So
(06:18):
they are dragging the chain.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah, yeah, I think so that's the reason though, why
we want to reach out to them, because you know,
realizing that there's a few small tweaks in the numbers
which affect the rankings, and so it's an opportunity just
to look at those numbers and to say, well, we're
are areas that we could make changes. You know. Overall,
I think it's great to see that, you know, the
(06:45):
mental health, the feeling of undue pressure, those are kind
of key parameters. Are a little bit subjective, of course,
but that's what farmers are feeling. And so it does
as you say in that example, you know, you feel
you're getting really good service in terms of your private banking.
So there's obviously scope there within the A and Z
for example, sorry ASP for example to be able to
(07:07):
make that change. And maybe it's just a few tea
tweaks required to get the comms a bit better to
their royal customers.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
All right, let's just really quickly touch on this one.
This one came out I think earlier in the week,
this is the Commerce Commission dismissing Federated Farmers complaint on
net zero banking. They found no evidence of cartel like behavior.
The five big banks that we've mentioned in this report
card account for ninety seven percent of agricultural lending. Were
(07:36):
you disappointed in this result?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yeah, we were disappointed in this result, and I guess
you know, this is where we want to make the
distinction from what we've just been talking about, where that
was intended to be a constructive kind of approach. But
with regards to this, we disagree with the findings of
ComCom on this. We think that, you know, the banks
(08:00):
have been behaving in a certain way that particularly with
a focus around this kind of net zero banking alliance concept.
But it's a little bit of a case of David
versus GLYS and ComCom have come out with their results
they saw things differently to us, But that is what
it is at this stage.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Mark Cooper, I'm just going to quote you here. You
were quoted as saying you remained concerned that banks were
straying from their core role of lending money based on
real risk considerations and not indulging in climate change space.
I'm with you on that one. Hey, that's not a
bad first up effort. What a good story. The banking
report card, it's like the old high school report cards
(08:42):
that we all used to have to suffer through. So
there you go, A and Z well done, Rabobank, well done,
Westpac B and Z and ASB could do better. And
you can't say to the farmers the dog ate my homework. Mark,
thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
It's been great. Thanks for talking chairs.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
There he goes Mark Cooper. Taranaki KELCOCKI the new banking spokesperson,
Let's just kick off the show with Mark Hooper, the
new Federated Farmers Banking spokesperson. Sorry about the delay there,
I was just getting a call from Ryan Bridge's producer
from the Herald now about a slot tomorrow morning. Doesn't
she know I'm on air between twelve and one anyhow,
(00:20):
Mark Hooper, welcome to the country. I think for the
first time, big big shoes to fill Richard McIntire's or
big gum boots.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yeah, very much. Being now on Jamie, Richard's done an
outstanding job in his role and so there's a but
to live up there. Up to there, it's going to
be a challenge, but looking forward to it though.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Now are you based on the Taranaki. You've obviously got
to be a cow cocky you got nothing else.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Up there, that's right, yep, yep, No, that's the way
to go.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
So tell us about your farming operation. Just quickly give
us a wee background.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Oh, we're very traditional Saranecki farmers, fourth generation on a
family farm, three hundred and twenty cows, owner operators. So
balancing between you know what I do with feds in
and now the care ship.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Now you've been involved, I think with feeds on the
national board for about four years, so you've got a
few runs on the board. So let's have a look
at this banking survey, ranking the banks from the best
to the worst. For the first time, Federated Farmers has
asked farmers to tell us how the banks are stacking up.
You surveyed six hundred and eighty one farmers in May
(01:36):
and found Rabobank and A and Z were the top
performing rural banks, sharing first place on the podium. So
you've rated these banks over several criteria the mortgage rate,
the overdraft rate, the undue pressure, their communications quality, the
mental health side of it, overall satisfaction, and that gives
(01:59):
you a final grow. I'll start with Rabobank top equal.
I've got a final grade of A minus alongside an Z.
That'll please Antonio Watson. So what have you got to
moan about if you're giving a bank's an A minus rating.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, well, let's not confuse the topics here. So obviously,
the banking survey is actually something that we've done for
a period of ten years and it's been reported in
various fashions, and so this is an opportunity I guess
to do something a little bit different, a little bit
(02:37):
constructive with that data. So this is an opportunity just
to provide a bit of transparency for those banks in
terms of what is the information that federraiated Farmers members
who respond to that survey are giving back to us.
So they are the ones that we represent, and so
we wanted to do something constructive with that data and
(02:59):
have come up with this report card idea, which is
the report card itself as obviously these numbers behind it,
but we've tried to make it a little a little
bit lighter and a little bit more transparent by just
converting it into an old form high school.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Well, I was going to say, it's like your high
school report card. I remember in the fourth form having
to actually with the set of scissors cut off the
principal's comment at the bottom because I didn't want my
father to read it. He would have kicked me right
up the backside if he'd read that. Bless him now. Okay,
So Rabobank Todd Charteris will be very pleased to hear this.
Rabobank received the highest scores for overall satisfaction, communication quality,
(03:43):
and overdraft rate. A n Z scored the best farmer
ratings for mortgage rates, the level of undue pressure felt
by farmers, and mental health scores. So they topped three
of the six categories each and that got them a
tie at the top with the A minus. Let's look
at the poorer performers. Westpac came in at third place
(04:05):
with A C plus B and Z fourth place C
minus a SB last place A D. What are those
other banks doing wrong?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Well, I think if you look at if you look
at those top performers A and Z RAO, they've they've
worked quite closely with with federad farmers. They've engaged, you know,
pretty heavily with the with the rural sector. So they're obviously,
you know, looking at what solutions are, what are the
(04:38):
concerns that farmers have got, and it would seem that
you know, they're addressing those pretty well, as you mentioned,
across those six categories, between the two of them, they
all took the top spot. And I think this is
an idea here. A follow up from this is that,
you know, we want to reach out to each of
the banks and provide a little bit more detailed in
(05:00):
terms of the feedback. Obviously, we've just gone for the
high level report cards here, and so I think that's
the opportunity just to provide a bit of feedback and say, hey,
these are there's some low hanging fruit here for these
lower ones. You know, it's a few tweaks and changes
and they could easily jump up the rankings a little bit.
So in this regard, you know, we've got the whole
(05:22):
banking inquiry stuff going on separately, but this is something
that we're happy to make a little bit positive, a
little bit constructive reach out, engage with the banks on
its and see if we can help get some better outcomes.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Mark Cooper with us FED Farmer's New Banking spokespers and
I guess to be rabobank, they specialize in agri lending.
That's all they do. If they can't become or be
top of the class, I guess something's wrong. And I
guess the other connection with an Z is there. Background
is obviously come through the National Bank which took over
the book of the Rural Bank. So I think that've
(05:56):
still got the biggest rural portfolio ASP trailing in last place.
I want to declare a conflict of interest here, but
I private bank with ASB couldn't ask for better service.
It's brilliant. I'm also an equity partnership on a farm
asb's banking that I could ask for better service. So
(06:18):
they are dragging the chain.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah, yeah, I think so that's the reason though, why
we want to reach out to them, because you know,
realizing that there's a few small tweaks in the numbers
which affect the rankings, and so it's an opportunity just
to look at those numbers and to say, well, we're
are areas that we could make changes. You know. Overall,
I think it's great to see that, you know, the
(06:45):
mental health, the feeling of undue pressure, those are kind
of key parameters. Are a little bit subjective, of course,
but that's what farmers are feeling. And so it does
as you say in that example, you know, you feel
you're getting really good service in terms of your private banking.
So there's obviously scope there within the A and Z
for example, sorry ASP for example to be able to
(07:07):
make that change. And maybe it's just a few tea
tweaks required to get the comms a bit better to
their royal customers.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
All right, let's just really quickly touch on this one.
This one came out I think earlier in the week,
this is the Commerce Commission dismissing Federated Farmers complaint on
net zero banking. They found no evidence of cartel like behavior.
The five big banks that we've mentioned in this report
card account for ninety seven percent of agricultural lending. Were
(07:36):
you disappointed in this result?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yeah, we were disappointed in this result, and I guess
you know, this is where we want to make the
distinction from what we've just been talking about, where that
was intended to be a constructive kind of approach. But
with regards to this, we disagree with the findings of
ComCom on this. We think that, you know, the banks
(08:00):
have been behaving in a certain way that particularly with
a focus around this kind of net zero banking alliance concept.
But it's a little bit of a case of David
versus GLYS and ComCom have come out with their results
they saw things differently to us, But that is what
it is at this stage.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Mark Cooper, I'm just going to quote you here. You
were quoted as saying you remained concerned that banks were
straying from their core role of lending money based on
real risk considerations and not indulging in climate change space.
I'm with you on that one. Hey, that's not a
bad first up effort. What a good story. The banking
report card, it's like the old high school report cards
(08:42):
that we all used to have to suffer through. So
there you go, A and Z well done, Rabobank, well done,
Westpac B and Z and ASB could do better. And
you can't say to the farmers the dog ate my homework. Mark,
thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
It's been great. Thanks for talking chairs.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
There he goes Mark Cooper. Taranaki KELCOCKI the new banking spokesperson,
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