MrsGreen2013

Hi All

I just wondered if anyone has any opinions on the various banks that are available in NZ?

Fewer charges the better?

Thanks in advance

Sarah

Kiwi Ex-pat

Ask this on the Australian forum, because they're almost all Australian owned.

Charismatic

Most banks offer free accounts if you cancel statements and use their electronic services.

All the big 4 Australian banks are much alike but in my view:
- ANZ has a huge number of branches, they write the most lending and tend to do a lot of commercial work. They've been expanding quickly with buyouts and an "asymmetric" strategy.
- BNZ/ASB are retail focused banks but offer add-on services.
- Wespac is the governments preferred bank and have been trying to restructure themselves to a more competitive position.

- KiwiBank (a former Post office bank) have been trying to move towards a retail model, they often set market leading mortgage specials. They are still stuck between being a post office and a bank.

TommyLuck

You can take the Kiwi out of NZ ...


I tried this exercise. Much of a muchness. Some offer various options on the charges which they are beginning to relax.

I'm with ASB.

I pay $3 a month for my account, all in. Also a $5 six monthly 'card fee', thought the first six months was waived.

I feel that the $41 dollars that I'll spend on my account in the first 12 months represents good value to my Natwest accounts in the UK, where my ISA had a far inferior interest rate that my big standard saving account does here.

Kiwi Ex-pat

It's not the fact it's Australian capital that dominates, its the lack of local control of a significant chunk of the financial system.

TommyLuck

I'm not knocking you.

I like the brand awareness and support Kiwis give Kiwi business and I like how it gripes that certain sectors aren't controlled by NZers, such as banking.

I'm being courted by a well known Kiwi online company for work and I must say their offering in the market place and the fact they are very popular in NZ makes them a very attractive proposition to work for.

Kiwi Ex-pat

NZ is a special case economically speaking as it is very isolated, relies on a narrow range of exports and has a very small internal market to drive production and consumption, so local control of the financial system is of greater importance when compared to larger economies. It's not really a cheer for NZ but a recognition of NZ's vulnerabilities.

I've derailed this with my flippant comment. Apologies to the OP. I have nothing of use to add.

TommyLuck

Which isn't unusual.

Still it's good for people, particularly prospective expats to understand and be forewarned of this aspect of everyday NZ.

Persephone

I've only used ANZ. No problems with them at all.

We used to pay $5 per month to run each current account. We have now changed to an online account which has no monthly charges. I get charged $3 if I deposit a cheque and I do that so rarely that it's not a big deal. In fact the cashier suggested depositing the cheque into one of our instant access savings accounts [no fees or losses] and then moving the money online so avoiding the $3 fee

In summary, I haven't paid bank fees for a couple of years

moonie2011

Is this a NZ chu or one from the uk? We have been told by friends that to deposit chqs grandparents send over for the kids would be charged $15

I've tried looking on their website but can't find anything

Persephone

A NZ cheque.

No one sends me cheques from the UK

Do you have a UK account still? If you do, could they put the cash in that account and you withdraw it from a cash machine in NZ. You'll still have fees and commission from the UK end but it may work out cheaper depending on how much they're sending over. You'd have to look at what your UK bank charges for overseas withdrawals.
You then intercept any cards they send and put the cash inside!

Charismatic

Last time I deposited there was a fee, a 5 cent government cheque fee.

Naturally I was outraged.

Tom1983

We bank with ASB and also with Westpac (after Charismatic or catchafires advice from the monumental ASB cock up a few months ago). We also have an ANZ account set up for our wee boy.

All the banks are ok in my opinion. The customer service and their banking system is 1,897,305,345,112,097,978,584,660 times better than Haliwesayweoffergooddealsbutinfactweresuchapatheti cbankweshouldn'tbeallowedtotradefax. Westpac agreed to put a system in place where we cannot go overdrawn and ASB after the cock up were outstanding. They're not quite HSBC but they're very close. ASB straight away refunded the loss and withdrew the overdrawn charges that day

We pay $5 every 12 months for our ASB account, that's it. The Westpac is free

Charismatic

Can't have been me. I just avoid ASB because I don't like being asked if I want a credit card and kiwisaver and life insurance every time I make a deposit (then be charged a $3 fee for the privilege of giving them my time and money).

I don't watch much 'telly but KiwiBank are marketing pretty aggressively to win market share aren't they? In a way it's probably all to play for right now, there has been such a focus on the rates race no one has been paying attention to all the other products.

barnsleymat

Kiwibank are a pain in the backside, imagine going into a a post office in the UK on a Saturday morning with 100's of people queued up zig zagging around the room like cattle and the only staff there are doddering old women that don't understand the concept of computers. That's what every single branch of Kiwibank is like that I've ever visited. We quickly changed banks and ANZ are a breath of fresh air compared to Kiwibank.