Westpac NZ Choices home loan customers can now access five-year interest-free home loan top-ups to improve the resilience of their homes to natural hazards and extreme weather, with more options coming in the new year.
Westpac is the first New Zealand bank to offer flood resilience measures as part of its sustainable home lending.
A recent survey of nearly 1,100 Westpac customers showed 60% of respondents have concerns about the impacts of flooding and severe weather events on their property, while 80% are concerned about the impacts on their town or city.
Westpac Managing Director Product, Sustainability & Marketing, Sarah Hearn, says the bank is committed to helping its customers navigate climate risk.
"New Zealand has always had extreme weather, but recent research from Earth Sciences NZ (formerly NIWA) shows these events are now happening more frequently.
"Our own survey results show a growing number of home-owners are concerned about the risks of flooding and severe weather. We want to provide them with practical options to help protect their biggest asset.
"By investing in things like improving drainage or raising their homes above potential flood levels, people can help future-proof their homes against storm damage," Ms Hearn says.
Under the changes to the Greater Choices product, customers can now borrow up to $50,000 interest-free for five years to cover things such as installing ground moisture barriers under homes; improving drainage on their properties; and carrying out work to raise outdoor electrical appliances above potential flood levels.
From 2 February 2026, the options to raise houses above potential flood levels; and to remove chimney structures (these can be hazardous in strong winds or earthquakes) will also be available through Greater Choices.
"We want people to have easy access to relevant information about climate risk. We were pleased to see the recent release of the Government's National Adaptation Framework, which emphasises the need for New Zealanders to have that information, and we look forward to the delivery of the National Flood Map in 2027.
"We're also working with our business customers to help them to invest in resilience measures and assess the impacts of climate change on their operations," Ms Hearn says.
The Greater Choices home loan top up already enables customers to invest in energy efficiency improvements such as heat pumps, ventilation, solar power systems and electric vehicles.
Westpac has this week also published its 2025 Sustainability Update and 2025 Climate Report. The latter document provides information on Westpac's operational and financed emissions; how the bank considers climate risk; and the practical actions it is taking to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change.
The Sustainability Update shares progress against the bank's 2027 Sustainability Commitments, as well as how it is responding to critical issues such as cyber security.
"We welcome the opportunity to provide our stakeholders and communities with information about how we are approaching sustainability in our business, as well as how we are supporting our customers to consider climate risk in their own lives and businesses," Ms Hearn says.
"We want to help our customers to remain resilient and thriving - now and into the future."
Westpac NZ 2025 Sustainability Update highlights
- Committed $7.6b in sustainable lending (as at 30 September 2025).
- Provided more than $730m in lending to affordable housing.
- Fundraised a record $1.5m for NZ's rescue helicopters through the annual Westpac Chopper Appeal campaign.
- Delivered financial education to more than 13,000 workshop attendees.
- Invested $11.6m in New Zealand communities, including Westpac staff using more than 35,000 hours of volunteer leave.
- Increased fraud prevention rates by 27% over the past year.
