National Bank branch to rebrand as ANZ

Rotorua's National Bank is to become an ANZ branch although no date has yet been announced for the change.

No frontline staff at the Fenton St bank will lose their jobs so customers will be able to continue dealing with the same people, an ANZ National Bank spokesman has confirmed.

That will leave Rotorua with two ANZ branches - the existing one is on the corner of Hinemoa and Amohia Sts but is scheduled to relocate to the Central Mall next autumn. The new branch at the mall will have improved facilities and be open seven days a week.

The Taupo and Whakatane National Banks will also be rebranded as ANZ but will otherwise be "business as usual", the spokesman said.

ANZ National this week announced that after almost 10 years of operating both ANZ and The National Bank in New Zealand, the two brands would be brought together as ANZ.

Chief executive David Hisco said The National Bank brand would progressively be phased out over about two years from around the end of October.

"ANZ bought The National Bank in 2003 and after almost 10 years of reducing duplication, the next logical step is to combine them into one," Mr Hisco said. "At the moment, we have about 300 branches nationwide and over the next two years, as we combine some of our adjacent branches, we'll end up with about 280 full-service branches, still the most, by far, of any bank.

"Over the next two years, we'll increase our branch presence from 75 per cent of where New Zealanders live to almost 90 per cent- so 15 new communities will get branches," he said.

For ANZ and National Bank branches located very close to each other, in most cases those branches will either co-locate to the larger branch or relocate to an area nearby where there is customer demand.

Cost savings at ANZ National have been made in recent years with the streamlining of head office management and processes.

Mr Hisco said The National Bank's sponsorships and community commitments would continue under the ANZ brand.