Wellington, June 3 NZPA - Westpac launched a four-year sustainability plan with 10 goals, of which one is to educate 45,000 New Zealanders through free money management workshops and online tutorials.

Other goals announced by the company today included raising $1 million a year for Westpac Rescue Helicopters, helping 2000 disabled New Zealanders participate in sport and leisure, reducing the bank's carbon emissions by 20 percent per active customer, reducing waste to landfill by 40 percent, and removing 1 million pieces of rubbish through the Care for our Coast programme.

The bank said it sought views on sustainability from more than 800 customers in a survey last month.

A third of customers believed being sustainable was more important than ever in the context of global economic uncertainty, and 92 percent considered it was important for their bank to be sustainable.