Sparkleydiva

You can open the account from the UK and transfer funds then just turn up at a branch with ID and everything will be sorted. Works very well in my opinion.

I pay $10 which covers all transactions and up to 10 accounts - Total Money - works well for us.

akmodi

Hi Sparkleydiva, which bank is this with ?

Sparkleydiva

Bank of New Zealand

newkiwi

IMO, when you move to a new country you want to go with the large providers. You wont have the local knowledge to pick the good smaller providers from the bad smaller providers yet. HSBC is a small player in the NZ banking scene (few branches, limited ATMs etc.)

You can open bank accounts but need to go into a branch to "activate" the accounts (ie you can deposit money to open the account but cant start withdrawing until you get to NZ) The large banks all have this service as far as I know

Go with one of the big 4 banks to start with, re-asses after 6 months if you need to. Some of them offer free bank accounts, but read the fine print they may try and make up for it in other transaction fees. others may waive fees if you have a certain level of business with the bank, but generally you end up paying something somewhere for your banking privileges in NZ