Banks raise concern about 'fee-chasers'

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment sought submissions on potential changes to the annual statement rules for KiwiSaver, including requirements that providers show members what income their accounts are on track to deliver in retirement, the amount of fees they have paid each year in dollar terms, and a prompter to seek help on getting more from KiwiSaver.

The Bankers Association said it would be possible by next year to produce statements showing members’ current balance, the total amount the account grew by over the year, transactions through the year and an encouragement for investors to seek help on increasing the money they had available at retirement.

But the other changes proposed would take longer.

It said providers would have a number of issues to address if they were required to calculate each member’s projected retirement balance and income.