A recent advertisement by the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) has come under fire from retailers who say it reflects negatively on small business owners.
The ad, titled “Swerve the surcharge – pay with Payap”, was released four weeks ago and promotes Payap, a digital wallet and point-of-sale app introduced by BNZ in 2024 to reduce the costs merchants face when accepting electronic payments. The ad is currently available on YouTube.
“When a major bank chooses to portray small business owners as bumbling, unhygienic caricatures — even in the name of humour — it risks doing more harm than good,” Himanshu Parmar, spokesperson for Waikato Retailers Group, told The Indian Weekender.
Retailers have expressed particular concern with the way the ad was made.
RNZ quoted Jaspreet Kandhari, general secretary of the New Zealand Indian Business Association, who described the ad as an "insult".
"Retailers are not the villains," RNZ quoted Kandhari.
Ankit Bansal, chair of the Dairy and Business Owners Group told RNZ that its members were "appalled by BNZ's latest advertisement, which depicts cornerstone dairy businesses in poor taste".
In a LinkedIn post published three days ago, that has since gained traction, Parmar described,
“Just saw this Payap ad — a dimly lit store, a female customer buys a muffin and milk… and the shopkeeper takes a bite of the muffin, then sips and spits back into the milk because he took too much for the payWave charge.
Photo: Screengrab of Himanshu Parmar's LinkedIn post
"This is how you see retailers? As grubby, unintelligent trolls ripping off customers?”
RNZ reported that Parmar and other retailers across New Zealand had labelled the ad “demeaning” and in “poor taste.”
Photo: Screengrab from the BNZ ad/YouTube
Speaking further to The Indian Weekender, Parmar added that depicting shopkeepers in a way that suggests “incompetence or dishonesty may get a laugh in a boardroom, but for those on the ground who keep their communities running, it feels like a slap in the face.”
He continued, “Trust is the lifeblood of banking relationships, and when that trust is eroded by advertising that mocks the very people you serve, the damage runs deeper than a single campaign.”
BNZ, however, has offered a response to the ad. In comments to RNZ, a BNZ spokesperson said the response had been “very positive.”
“As the country's largest business bank, we see every day the contribution small businesses make to New Zealand, and we always welcome feedback,” the spokesperson said.
“The feedback we've received since launching the ad has been very positive, with more and more retailers adopting Payap, as it lets them accept contactless payments at a much lower cost than traditional options, while giving customers a simple, convenient way to pay.
We are confident the ad reflects that positive impact,” RNZ quoted.
Parmar, however, argued that BNZ’s reply “misses the mark.” He told The Indian Weekender, “Confidence in a product’s benefits is not the same as empathy for those who feel targeted or belittled.”
Photo: Himanshu Parmar/Supplied
He suggested that a better approach would have been to acknowledge how the ad might be perceived by hard-working retailers and to initiate dialogue on real solutions — including payment fees and fraud protection.
“Instead, this risks widening the gap between banks and the communities that rely on them,” he said.