Warehouse looks to the mortgage market

The bargains everybody's supposed to get at The Warehouse may very soon extend to getting your mortgage from a red shed near you.

The discount retailer is "pretty much there" but still another couple of weeks away from reaching a final agreement with its partner over a package of financial services to be delivered from its stores, says chief executive Greg Muir.

A wide range of financial services are being considered including mortgages.

"Mortgages are certainly amongst the products we're considering. We're considering everything financial institutions cover," Muir says.

The Warehouse had said it would be finalising its banking plans about now, but the negotiations have been held up by key members of each team taking annual leave, he says.

Muir won't say who the retailer's partner is, but it is rumoured to be WestpacTrust. He has previously said the institution is a New Zealand-based bank. (A previously planned alliance with ANZ fell over).

Reaching agreement on the range and details of services to be offered is one thing. The actual launch isn't likely to be before the end of June at the earliest, he says.

Muir has previously said The Warehouse won't be competing head-to-head with Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton's plans to set up a "People's Bank" through New Zealand Post.

Instead, it will be an extension of the services The Warehouse already offers, including those provided to its 200,000 Warehouse cardholders.