Kiwibank wins Best Direct Channels Initiative at Financial Innovation Awards.

London, New York and Wellington, 22 November, 2007 – Kiwibank, a young New Zealand bank known for its innovative approach to banking, has won the Financial Innovation Award for ‘Best Direct Channels Initiative – Mobile Phone category’ offered by the ifs School of Finance. This accolade, which was presented at the Financial Innovation Awards Ceremony in London last night, is further recognition of Kiwibank’s successful mobile banking services.

Fronde Anywhere, a leading provider of mobile products for the financial services and corporate sectors, partnered with Kiwibank to provide the technology behind this award winning mobile banking solution. The Kiwibank mobile banking facility enables a customer to use a mobile phone for virtually all the banking services available on the Internet. This includes viewing account balances and transactions, transferring funds between accounts and making payments to other parties.

Gary Millner, director of Corporate Relations and Communications at the ifs School of Finance, said: “The ifs Financial Innovation Awards are now firmly established as one of the most prestigious in the financial services industry. Entries from organisations across the globe combined with a rigorous judging process mean that those who win one of the award categories, such as Kiwibank can take pride in having truly excelled in the industry. Put simply, the awards have again provided a great opportunity for innovators in the financial services industry to gain recognition for their efforts.”

Fronde Anywhere executive vice president, products and marketing, Caroline Dewe, was in London to collect the award on Kiwibank’s behalf. “We’re absolutely delighted to be recognised internationally alongside Kiwibank at these prestigious awards,” she said. “It reinforces Kiwibank’s strong growth and commitment to mobile banking as a key part of its multi channel strategy.”

Sam Knowles, CEO of Kiwibank commented: “It is incredibly exciting for a small bank like Kiwibank, in partnership with Fronde Anywhere, to get this kind of international recognition. At Kiwibank, we see mobile banking as the way of the future, and we are continually committed to being at the forefront of technical innovation.”

The development of Kiwibank’s Mobile Banking solution was a considerable and highly complex technical achievement and involved Kiwibank and both mobile network providers, working together to achieve some notable ground breaking achievements. This has subsequently led and shifted the market. Every bank in New Zealand is in the process of incorporating mobile banking services into their multi channel offerings.

About the award:
This award recognises how an organisation has made strides forward in improving or innovating in the area of non-face to face or Internet services. As well as creating a valuable product, service or feature offered through direct channels that make the organisation stand out from the crowd. Kiwibank contended against large international banks including Alliance & Leicester, Banco Sabadell, Barclays Bank and Fortis all with similar mobile phone based offerings.

About Kiwibank
Kiwibank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of New Zealand Post. It opened for business in 2002 and has the largest network of branches of any bank operating in New Zealand It has more than 550,000 customers.

For further information visit: http://www.kiwibank.co.nz

Press contacts for Fronde Anywhere
Natalie Shamshoum or George Hayley
Metia
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100 3655
Email: natalie.shamshoum@metia.com or george.hayley@metia.com

Press Contact for Kiwibank
Bruce Thompson.
Communications manager, Kiwibank
Bruce.thompson@kiwibank.co.nz
Tel +64 460 6831