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The Westpac NZ Disability and Inclusion in Banking Report.
Background.
Around 1.1 million New Zealanders identify as having a disability. As our population ages, that number is likely to increase.
Being able to easily access banking services is critical to participating in society and our economy, as well as enabling people to have independence.
We asked research consultancy ThinkPlace to look into the barriers disabled people may experience in accessing banking services, and to make recommendations for improvements to help us to better serve these people.
About the report.
The Westpac NZ Disability and Inclusion in Banking Report was released in January 2025. It aimed to understand the challenges and hurdles faced by people with disabilities in accessing banking services.
Read the full Westpac NZ Disability and Inclusion in Banking Report (PDF, 7MB).
Read the report as a Word doc (25MB).
Findings of the report.
ThinkPlace spoke to 25 participants, both those with lived experience of disability and people who work for, or represent, disabled organisations.
The report looked into the experience of people who identify as having difficulty with vision, hearing, physically functioning, managing social interactions and understanding or communicating.
Challenges experienced by these people include:
- Identification requirements, which can prevent people from getting an account at all
- Limited choice of services
- The accessibility of physical and online banking channels
- The capability and understanding of bank staff
- Complex legal requirements around caregiver roles.
Making banking more accessible.
We became New Zealand’s first dementia friendly bank in 2015. We’ve continued to work hard to make our products and services accessible for people who identify as disabled. But we know there’s more work to be done. Some of the things we are doing include:
- Delivering financial education workshops for disabled people (we’re currently working with Spectrum Care and Deaf Aotearoa and would welcome engagement from other groups)
- Building accessibility requirements into updates to our Westpac One® app and online banking services
- Providing consistency of layout and design in our physical bank branches
- Training our people to recognise that customers wearing Hidden Sunflower lanyards have disabilities that aren’t visible and may need additional support
- Continuing to support customers experiencing vulnerability with the help of our dedicated Extra Care team.
If you are an external agency wanting information about what else Westpac is doing in this space or how we can support the people you work with, contact extra_care@westpac.co.nz