Bank of New Zealand's mailing shredded up mortgage inertia.

Background

As part of BNZ's promise to help New Zealanders be good with money, the bank wanted to jolt people into tackling their biggest financial commitment - their home loan. Most New Zealanders had no idea how much money they were wasting unnecessarily in loan interest.

Solution

Everyday billions of dollars in old banknotes were destroyed by the major banks. The idea was to salvage some of that waste and make it valuable again.

Collaborating with the Reserve Bank, $1,000 of real shredded cash was put into bundles and delivered to home owners across the country with a letter explaining how a BNZ tailored home loan could help them prevent such waste and save $156,000 on a typical $300,000 home loan.

Results

Millions of dollars in worthless shredded money was recycled into a compelling campaign. The campaign saved New Zealand homeowners hundreds of thousands of dollars and increased BNZ mortgage lending by $600 million.

Home loans jumped 13%.  Bank preference increased 11% against BNZ non ‘main bank’ customers.