Sada Reddy: Improving access to money in Fiji
Address by Mr Sada Reddy, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji, at the official
opening of ANZ ATM No. 70, Nasese, 5 August 2008.
* * *
Mr. Robert, Bell, General Manager ANZ Bank
Management and staff of ANZ Bank
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Introductory remarks
Good morning to you all
I would like to thank the ANZ Bank for the kind invitation to open this new ATM, their 70th to
date. It is certainly an honour for me to be part of another milestone in ANZ's history and
growth in Fiji.
It is always encouraging to see banks in Fiji expanding their services through opening new
branches and ATMs. Such developments bring banking services closer to the people and the
community.
In this regard, I congratulate ANZ for their long term commitment to Fiji and to the economy
of Fiji.
ANZ Bank in Fiji
Let me say a few words on ANZ's history in Fiji. ANZ's association with Fiji goes back to the
1800's when the Union Bank of Australia, an ancestor of ANZ, began operations in Levuka in
1880. As you know, Levuka then was the capital of Fiji.
When Suva was established as the capital, ANZ opened a branch here in 1883. For various
reasons, ANZ withdrew from Fiji by 1895. However it re-established operations in Fiji in
1951. Since then, of course, ANZ has grown from strength to strength.
Today ANZ Bank in Fiji has many points of representation - 16 branches, 2 Prime Banking
Sites. 2 Business Centres, 831 Electronic Merchants countrywide, 734 EFTPOS terminals,
24/7 phonebanking and internet services, banking facilities within the concourse and transit
lounge of Nadi International Airport and an agency at Nausori Airport and is deeply involved
with mobile rural banking services.
ANZ is the largest bank in Fiji with total assets of $1.6 billion and forms 40 percent of the
total banking system.
ANZ's rural banking
Let me say a few words about ANZ's Rural Banking Services. ANZ started its Rural Banking
Services in October 2004. To date, this business has grown substantially from almost
nothing to $7 million in deposits. Total lending is approaching $1 million. The customer base
was more than 50,000 as at end March 2008.
Through mobile banking trucks, ANZ services the rural areas of Tailevu/Naitasiri,
Namosi/Serua, Nadroga/Nadi, Bua/Macuata, Cakaudrove and fly-in fly-out operations to
Taveuni and Kadavu. Apart from various deposits products, the rural program also includes
small and micro loans to communities in rural and outlying areas. The Government and the
Reserve Bank have supported this initiative of ANZ from the beginning and are pleased to
see that more and more rural areas are being serviced through ANZ Rural Banking. We
encourage various businesses and Government agencies, including NLTB, to use these
services when they wish to make payments such as royalties, land rent etc.
Financial Literacy programs organised by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
have been conducted in conjunction with ANZ rural banking in these rural areas as well since
October 2004.
ATMs
ATMs provide a very convenient way of doing banking. Customers can access their bank
accounts to make cash withdrawals or credit card cash advances and check their account
balances as well as topping up their mobile balances. With more and more ATMs being
installed around the country, the need to go to a bank for cash has reduced dramatically. I
am told that people in Fiji use ATMs more than in many other countries. This is seen from the
frequency of use of each ATM in the country.
As of today, there are 151 ATMs in Fiji. Of that total, ANZ has 70 ATMs or 46 percent of the
total. This is an excellent achievement for ANZ in Fiji!
The location of this ATM in Nasese is going to service a rapidly growing part of Suva. We
hope that this will lessen the queues at the ATMs in Suva.
FIJICLEAR
While we are on the topic of access to money, I would like to take this opportunity to say a
few words about FIJICLEAR. Fiji's electronic payment system is called FIJICLEAR. This
system went live on 30 August 2007 and was launched on 16 October 2007.
FIJICLEAR allows people to make and receive payments electronically on the same day
through a commercial bank anywhere in Fiji. FIJICLEAR has been in operation for almost a
year but for some reason many of our people are not using this very easy and efficient
payment system.
There are a number of benefits of using FIJICLEAR.
To the Payee i.e. the person receiving money, the benefits include: -
• Funds are credited into the account straight away. So there is no waiting of 3 to 7
days for funds to be cleared when using a cheque;
• There is time savings as one does not have to physically visit a bank to deposit
cheque;
There is no uncertainty of any dishonoured cheques with the associated charges and
•
loss of income;
Immediate crediting of account means that any overdraft limit is reduced and hence
•
lower interest charges;
• Immediate crediting of funds will help in cash flow; and
• Reduced overhead or staff costs as there is less paperwork.
There are also benefits to the Payer i.e. those making the payment: -
• There is less risk of transporting cheques;
• There is savings in time and charges; and
• There is better business relationship with creditors.
I therefore strongly encourage businesses as well as individuals to use this modern
payments system to make transactions. The Payee should insist on the Payer to use
FIJICLEAR for payments.
In the coming months, the Reserve Bank will be working closely with the commercial banks
to enhance awareness of the system. We hope to reduce overall transaction costs of using
FIJICLEAR and improve the efficiency of financial transactions in the economy. At present,
the banks charge the local TT rate of around $10 to $15 per transaction. But this charge
should go down as the number of transactions increase. We will be asking the banks to
review the current charges to encourage the use of FIJICLEAR.
Official opening
Once again, I would like to thank Robert for his kind invitation. I wish him and his team every
success in their Fiji operations.
I now have much pleasure in declaring ANZ's 70th ATM open.
Thank you.