More financial institutions will be able to call themselves banks from 2028 under a decision announced by the Reserve Bank.
The change means some businesses that take deposits from customers but are not currently allowed to use the word “bank” will be able to adopt it if they are licensed under new rules.
The Reserve Bank announced the decision on Thursday after consulting on who should be allowed to use the words “bank”, “banker” and “banking”.
At the moment, those terms are largely reserved for registered banks. Businesses known as non-bank deposit takers can take deposits from customers, but cannot call themselves banks.
That will change when the Deposit Takers Act comes fully into force on December 1, 2028.
