CWEMM02

I am loathe to add a question on Banking. However, using the search on Bank I received quite a diverse list that it wasn't useful.

I have been reading www.interest.co.nz which is very useful as it evaluates the different bank accounts, their features and costs. The information is presented in a table that allows for easy comparison between institutions.

In my assessment, it seems that HSBC may be the bank to go with. The chequing/savings account requires a balance of $5,000 to avoid any fees, but the account earns interest, currently above 5%.

I was wondering if anyone uses HSBC in NZ and how you have found their services including mortgage and equity trading account.

I had an email from them that indicates I can visit a local branch here before we go to open the account and that it would be active for deposits and withdrawls as opposed to deposit only for say ANZ et al.

Radio Ham

I have just opened an HSBC account on Queen St Auckland from the UK and all went well... but expect it to take 10 weeks, you will need to pay for a bankers draft to transfer the funds which costs £20ish, and the form copying and stamping at the UK branch takes 3 hours in my experience. On the up side all cards and chequebooks delivered as promised by HSBC to the UK.

sarahw

I opened my account in the UK through the International Banking Centre and my cards and PINs all arrived fine in the UK and worked OK in NZ. One thing to bear in mind is you can't change your PIN code, you have to memorise the one they send you.

I opened the Online Savings Account as there are no fees for your standard transactions and the interest is good. You just have to remember to only draw cash out at HSBC or Westpac ATMs.

The only other account that seems to have a better interest rate consistently is from Rabobank but that's just an ordinary savings account and isn't a transactional account.

newkiwi

HSBC only has very few branches in NZ, which may count against it..

the big five retail banks are ASB, ANZ, BNZ, Nationail and Westpac. Cant really comment on HSBC as I have not done lots of research into them. You can open up accounts from overseas with most of these five, I know we did it with National Bank and went into the branch the first monday after we arrived to pick up our ATM cards etc...

Nice Guy

Check this out. We are with the National bank.........probably there are better, but it's a starting point.

www.nbnz.co.nz/personal/life/index/residents.htm

Hope this helps!

Apple12

Yep,
HSBC only has five, yes five, branches in all of NZ. All based in Auckland. So this may or may not be worth considering... I know it is not often necessary to use a branch nowadays, but if one day you should need to you may find it a little inconvenient if you are living outside of Auckland.

CWEMM02

I see that HSBC has very few branches, but it seems you can use Westpac bank machines and not be charged the third party machine fee.

The TSB (Taranaki Savings Bank) looks to be a real cheap place to bank too, but this looks to be a regional bank.

Thanks for your insights, it seems that HSBC is a reasonable choice.

neilw71

Hi,

I was with HSBC for many years in the UK and had the top credit rating with them. I left it too late to actually open the account before leaving the UK, but asked for a reference from my Branch, so the credit history would be transferred. They would not give me a copy of it and said it had to go through their internal system!

So I arrived in Akl and they had absolutley NO reference in the system and had no interest in finding it. They opened an Online account fairly quickly, but the ATM (Eftpos) cards are created off site, so take a week at least to arrive in the post.

I then had quite a few problems with the HSBC back in the UK which soured my impression of them overall (service level went downhill IMHO over last few years). I commented on this to my contact in the Branch and she was not interested in the slightest! I then asked for a Mortgage quote and some info - that never ever arrived!

At that point I decided to switch - went to Westpac, who I admit have a deal with my employer. But the level of service was great and Eftpos card was given there and then. Absolutely no problems since then and their online services cover everything I need.

Note also that HSBC do not offer any credit cards (although I heard they may offer an Amex) They will refer you to Westpac for their cards though.

In summary, HSBC NZ offers a good product, if you are prepared to receive the "global" service levels. Branch coverage is not an issue if you are in central or eastern Akl - if not - what do you do if you need to deposit cash??

Neil

CWEMM02

I decided to open up an HSBC account and visited the branch in a nearby town to us. The process takes about six weeks to get it open. Also, for making deposits, you can use a Westpac bank to accept deposits. I can always switch after we arrive if it doesn't work out. It looks like when we get a mortgage the bank that we use will want all the business at that time. So it seems that HSBC is an ok place to start.