AndyR

Does anyone know if you can get a credit card in NZ while on a work permit?

We are looking to get one of the AirPoint Reward Cards (AirNZ airmiles) but everywhere we try says you have to be a NZ Perm Resident and on $70,000K p.a before they will give you a credit card?

What gives? Surely a 3 year work permit and banking with them (ANZ) and being on $65k primary applicant (+100K combined) should be enough?

Does anyone know any other banks where you can get ANY credit card while on a work permit as its a PITA only having a Maestro card at the moment which you can't use online or over the phone.

michellesimotich

Hey there, not sure about credit cards but I got a debit card from ASB which I can use online etc. Originally opened an account with Westpac but they only give you a debit card if you're a resident, which is a pain. Hope this helps

Kiwiprincess

The Airpoints cards tend to be a 'step up' type card. You should be able to get a regular card in the first instance then transfer over in 6 months (if you can't get one directly).

nukiwi

We were on a work permit when we came out and got a credit card immediately with National. We then changed to BNZ and because we weren't residents then they gave us a reduced limit for 6 months, which they happily increased after that period.

We brought out references from our UK bank and credit scores which we produced, plus hubby is on a good salary which went in our favour.

You shouldn't have any trouble getting one, but not sure about the one you mention.

Jan n Neil

TSB gave us everything inc a mortgage whilst on a work permit

Neil

AndyR

Thanks everyone. Could just be that we were after a points card then. I noticed the regular cards with ANZ were Resident Only too, but will probably just go into a brank now and see what they can do for us.

Mainly just need a card really as not being able to use the Maestro one online is a pain, and can no longer use our UK one as we transfered over the remains of our funds the other day.

Thanks again!

terrier2

You know the old saying. "TSB is the bank for me"
As Jan & Neil say, the TSB did our mortgage and credit cards all when we were on a work visa. And you talk to real people who make real decisions.
I think they are great!
Good luck.

AndyR

Well we are crap out of luck here.

ANZ who we bank with won't give us any credit, even the basic ones because we are not a resident. They offered us a prepaid card but don't want that.

KiwiBank - Nope as not resident.

ABS - Nope

BNZ - Nope

Westpac - Nope

TSB - Yes, but only if we bank with them.

What a frickin nightmare! Everything else has been so easy to sort out since we got to NZ, but the CC is the worst part so far. Oh well.

cleverchap

ANZ were goood when we first arrived, but they soon went downhill. On a working visa you can not get anything from them. They do not even do a visa debit card so you can not buy things online!! ANZ now offer a prepaid debit card but thats not much use if you suddenly decide to buy something and you do not have enough credit available, and they charge $10/month just for banking with them.

ASB are so much better, with a visa debit straight off the bat, no monthly bank charges if you elect to cancel your monthly statements, and all banking can be done online. You can also avoid charges for paying in if you use their fast drop boxes rather than using the tellers. You can guess who we bank with now.

#edit#Since being in NZ we have not needed to use a credit card and wondered why we had 2 each in the UK. Guess we had them because they were so easy to get hold of, so ask yourself why you need one before signing up #edit#

AndyR

Thanks for the tips on ASB, may end up moving over actually.

Reason we want a credit card is purley for rewards. In the UK we had a Virgin Airlines credit card which we used for everything. Stopped using our debit cards except to get cash out, but everything else like bills, shopping, fuel and everything else went on the credit card to rack up the miles. We paid it off in full each month but we ended up getting 4 free london-la flights, and several upgrades to premium just by using the credit card.

Wanted to do the same here for Air New Zealand.

cleverchap

I didn't know you could gain rewards over here, sounds like a good idea if you can. Since we do not have a credit card anymore I guess it doesn't make any difference