Don’t let open banking close the door on action to address excess profit

Open banking is fine but the simplest and most effective way to address record bank profits is to tax them fairly to provide relief to families struggling to get by.

“While the Greens support any action that stops banks ripping people off, the timing of this announcement does feel strange – especially when the simplest and quickest solution is right there on the table: tax excess profit and use the money help everyone make ends meet,” says the Green Party’s consumer affairs spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March.

“It was good to hear the Prime Minister speak so frankly about the problem of record bank profits on Monday. But the Government is once again tinkering at the edges, rather than getting to the heart of the problem.

“There is no doubt that open banking will help stop banks ripping off struggling customers. Two years ago, responding to plans for a consumer data right, the Greens highlighted the need for greater transparency and regulation for this exact reason.

“But we are in a unique situation right now that needs bold solutions.

“When banks - and other large corporations - can generate record profits from a set of circumstances they did nothing to bring about; when thousands of families are forced at the same time to make impossible choices about whether to pay the bills or put food on the table, we need to act.

“The banking system is simply not equipped to put people before profit. The Government needs to step in and an excess profit tax is the quickest and easiest way to start.

“As my colleague Julie Anne Genter has been saying, an excess profits tax is the simplest and most effective way to ensure large corporations pay their fair share to help people who are struggling to pay rents and mortgages, or put food on the table,” says Ricardo Menéndez March.

Latest Commerce and Consumer Affairs Announcements

Story

Urgent intervention needed on supermarkets

The Green Party is calling on the Government to intervene in the supermarket duopoly dominating our supply of groceries following today’s report fr...
Read More

Story

Food prices another clear example of why tax changes are urgent

Rising food prices show exactly why now is the time to shake up the tax system and raise the money we need to lift every family out of poverty.
Read More

Story

Greens' Income Guarantee is needed more than ever

Continued rising food prices shows exactly why Aotearoa needs the Green Party’s Income Guarantee.
Read More

Story

Govt must break up supermarkets

The Government needs to do much more to address supermarket profiteering, which is driving high food prices.
Read More

Story

Action to support people to put food on the table more urgent than ever

Yet another increase in food prices shows the urgent need for the Government to tax wealth and use the money to help people put food on the table.
Read More

Story

Action needed to stop supermarkets taking advantage of people

Supermarket profiteering is driving high food prices and it needs to be reined in urgently, the Green Party says.
Read More