Nine To Noon for Wednesday 16 October 2024

09:05 BNZ explain confirmation of payee changes coming soon to banks 

Consumer New Zealand says banks have been taken too long to implement the confirmation of payee service. Banks will implement a confirmation of payee service from November, but a full implementation is not expected until Easter next year. The Banking Association says the delay has been because of the complexity and size of changes needed to accommodate the confirmation of payee service. The service lets customers check the account name matches the account number of where they are sending money. Customers will be provided with a match, partial match or no match notification. It will only work across New Zealand based bank accounts - meaning it won't help protect against scams where people are sending money to an overseas account. Estimates are that consumers here are losing about $200 million a year to scams that are increasing in complexity and number. Consumer NZ's Jessica Walker says this has taken too long. But first, Martin King is general manager customer assist at BNZ, and he's been working to implement the changes at that bank. 

09:20 Aged Care Commissioner concern over elder care in provinces

The Aged Care Commissioner is concerned about the future care of the elderly in many of our provincial towns. Nine to Noon has reported recently on woes in the sector, with the Aged Care Association warning many smaller towns are on the brink of having no aged care beds for frail elderly, nor adequate in-home care. This is already the case in Wairoa, where the last rest home in the town has been closed since Cylone Gabrielle, and its estimated more than 50 whanau are caring for vulnerable elders in unsatisfactory conditions.Health New Zealand is developing a new funding model which it says will address the issues, and Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello has told Nine to Noon the new model will have no negative impacts on care. But the Aged Care Association says it has been shut out of consultation and it believes cuts are planned. Aged Care Commissioner, Carolyn Cooper, who has been touring some smaller towns and visiting providers, says she is worried.

09:30 The jazz musicians trying to welcome more women into the industry

The Wellington Jazz Festival kicks off today and a group of musicians from across the motu are taking the opportunity to celebrate and boost up women in the field. They'll host a showcase and a workshop on improvisation to encourage women to participate in what they say are often intimidating, male-dominated jam sessions. Francesca Parussini is a co-founder of the Auckland-based group Wāhine in Jazz, and Hannah Flacks is a member of the Pōneke Listeners Collective. They both speak to Kathryn.

09:45 Australia: Card surcharge crackdown, childcare spend-up

Australia correspondent Bernard Keane talks about plans to phase in a flat daily fee for childcare to avoid a flood of new enrolments. The Federal Government is also planning to phase out those sneaky surcharges that customers can incur - an estimated billion dollars a year as more Aussies tap and go. And it's a year since the failed Voice vote to Parliament - what's happening to give indigenous communities more of a say in how they work with state and federal government?

Bernard Keane is political editor for Crikey.com

10:05 How artificial intelligence is already changing how we live

It helps us choose what to watch, where to eat, what to buy or how to get places. It's used when we apply for bank loans, insurance - or even a job.  Whether you like it or not, artificial intelligence is having an impact on modern living. But for good, or bad? Madhumita Murgia, AI editor at the Financial Times,  considers this in her new book Code Dependent: Living in the shadow of AI. But instead of focusing on Silicon Valley, where Big Tech has created an embraced the AI revolution, she takes readers to some surprising spots around the world, where lowly-paid data labourers are literally piecing it all together. Madhumita looks at where AI is bringing benefits - to healthcare - for example. But also to how it can strip away a person's dignity and agency - like the rise of deepfakes in pornography. How are we already being changed by this rapidly evolving technology? And is it possible to resist it?

10:35 Book review: Early Sobrieties by Michael Deagler 

Renata Hopkins from Scorpio Books in Christchurch reviews Early Sobrieties by Michael Deagler published by Cornerstone

10:45 Around the motu : Hawke's Bay Tairawhiti reporter Alexa Cook

Alexa has been talking to many shop proprietors in Gisborne about the fall off in business. The region is grappling with a decline in forestry and lower export prices. Gisborne's Chamber of Commerce says many shops are on the brink of closure. And in Hawke's Bay the controversial Ruataniwha Dam initiative has been rebranded the Tukituki Water Security Project. It's part of the government's fast track approvals bill - one of 149 projects selected.

11:05 Inflation falls to within Reserve Bank's target range 

Inflation has slowed to a three-year low, with the consumer price index (CPI) falling back into the Reserve Bank's target band. Stats NZ says the consumer price index rose 0.6 percent in the three months ended September, taking the annual rate to 2.2 percent from 3.3 percent, the lowest since March 2021. Our business editor Gyles Beckford has the latest.

11:15 Music with Dave Wilson: ORO MĀIA 

Music correspondent Dave Wilson talks to Kathryn about a performance going on this week called ORO MĀIA, which was at Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival last weekend and will be at Wellington Jazz Festival this weekend. It's a te Reo Māori tribute to the poetry of Maya Angelou, and Dave plays three songs inspired by her work.

Dave Wilson is a saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and interdisciplinary scholar, a Senior Lecturer in Music at the New Zealand School of Music-Te Kōkī.

11:20 Bonsai 101 with Steven Yin

Steven Yin has been working with bonsai trees for 20 years. The idea of bonsai is to mimic trees in nature but in a miniature, potted form. He says it is all about scale and what he refers to as 'negative space'. His business is Mini Gardens, with some 5,000 bonsai trees at his home nursery. Steven also runs short courses for people to get into growing and caring for their own bonsai trees.     

11:45 Personal finance: When's the best time to buy a house?

Money expert Liz Koh says the last few years have been a rollercoaster for house prices. They went from a post-Covid boom in 2022 to a fall over the following 18 months - largely driven by changes to interest rates. Now rates are falling, is now the time to buy? Liz looks at the important principles to keep in mind when thinking about buying property. 

Liz Koh is a money expert specialising in retirement planning. The advice given here is general and does not constitute specific advice to any person.