Potential default KiwiSaver providers will be busy getting their respective houses in order over the next few weeks in readiness for the final government stamp of approval, due by March 31.
The default reappointment process has already forced one of the current big-name providers to reverse a policy.
As I've previously mentioned somewhere, the ANZ-owned OnePath KiwiSaver default scheme last year restricted membership to those shunted its way by the IRD's auto-allocation system.
"It is not possible to join the OnePath KiwiSaver Scheme in any other way [than via the IRD's default allocation process] and, in particular, you can't apply to join the OnePath KiwiSaver Scheme," the ANZ website says.
While it may have made sense for the multi-schemed ANZ to constrain membership of its default option to the genuinely apathetic, the bank will have to reopen the OnePath KiwiSaver product to all interested parties shortly, in line with requirements promulgated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MOBIE) last year.
