Innovation Excellence Awards

Each year CANSTAR reviews the financial services market to identify financial products and services that can be described as ‘innovative’ and a first to market.

In this report we highlight two outstanding products from the banking sector that show true innovation in their fields. These products deserve due recognition for the creative way in which they benefit customers.

Innovation: Inventing and reinventing

Kiwis have a proud history of innovating in a wild and isolated land where survival meant, as the saying goes, being able to do anything with “a piece of number eight wire”.
New Zealand is responsible for a number of world-changing inventions, from splitting the atom and bungee jumping to the humble electric fence. As this year’s Innovation Excellence Awards show, we’re just as creative with how we tackle our daily finances.

How do we define a product as innovative?

To be called innovative, a product or service should be a first in the market and even perhaps open up a new market. Then we assess the degree of innovation and the overall impact the product could have on the everyday customer’s life.
In terms of degree, we consider whether there are any other similar products available and what makes this product different, whether it is a “first” in New Zealand, and whether it opens up any new markets. We also assess the potential significance of its impact to the market in terms of increasing competition. And, of course, something that′s truly innovative can′t help but have that “wow” factor.
In terms of overall impact, we consider the number of people who can benefit from the innovation, the ease and expense of application, and the potential to change people’s lives. There is more detail about our assessment process in the attached methodology.