We are in talks to reduce the $5000 deposit to open small businesses- Saud Minam

ANZ Fiji Country Head Saud Minam says he understands that it will be difficult for customers to pay a deposit of $5000 if they want to open up accounts for small businesses and ANZ is now looking into it.

Minam says they understand that the world has changed and a lot of customers would want to open and have a banking relationship with ANZ.

He says they had initially thought that they should decrease it to a certain level so customers feel comfortable coming to them but due to COVID-19 they are giving first priority to the vulnerable ones.

When questioned on why ANZ is charging a deposit of $5000 when other banks such as BSP and HFC are charging $250 and $1000 respectively, Minam says different banks have different requirements.

Minam says for everything they do, they have to look at what the cost is and what is the return.