Congratulations to ANZ! Despite stiff competition, the bank is once again Canstar's Agribusiness Bank of the Year.
In its research, our expert award panel commended ANZ's continued high standards across its agribusiness banking services. Our analysts noted the ANZ's excellence in banking functionality, including its payroll features for agribusiness owners, and for providing valuable industry insights and education to agribusiness owners.
Our panel also praised ANZ for its continued strong commitment to supporting the wider agribusiness industry, through initiatives to improve farmer wellbeing and sustainability practices.
Agribusiness Award
Canstar's Agribusiness Award is judged and awarded by our expert research team. The award winner is the institution that earns the highest cumulative score across three categories:
Agribusiness banking products
Considers the breadth and depth of an institution's product offering across business finance, deposit and additional products. It includes:
- Loans, for example, seasonal and equipment finance plus environmental loans
- Overdraft facility
- Reward and low-rate credit cards
Agribusiness banking services
Due to the specialist nature of many agribusinesses, it's important that an institution is able to provide individual support and services tailored to the needs of each of its clients. Banking services judged, include:
- Branch coverage
- Insurances
- Investments
- Multiple product pricing discounts
- Payroll
- Risk management
Agribusiness support
In addition to banking products and services, through detailed market research and feedback from agribusinesses, our expert research team has identified four key challenges facing agriculture businesses in NZ.
These concerns are reflected in our awards methodology, which rates the extent to which each financial institution supports the agribusiness sector across the following:
- Sustainable farming – the importance of reducing the wider environmental impact of farming practices
- Social empowerment – supporting the mental health of our farmers and promoting diversity within the workforce
- Financial hardship support – providing a framework of financial support, specifically banks' responses to natural disasters
- Succession planning – helping the smooth transition to the next generation of agribusiness owners
