Bank accounts. Can we open one?

What do you have to do to open a bank account in NZ?

I am assuming you need a permenant address, but what about a salary and PR. We will by all accounts be visitors until work permit is issued.

If we have to live for quite awhile without income we will need to trasfer funds fron the UK over to NZ. To do this we will need a bank account up and running quite quickly. Has anyone any experience of this.

Thanks

Sara

you can set up a PO box from the UK before you departure - you can use that as your permanent address.

Th cheapest way to transfer money is an interbank transfer set up a UK HSBC bank account quick and open one in NZ when you get there, you can then transfer money for ?10 per transaction. You can also transfer your money to a stirling account in NZ and leave it there hoping that the exchange rate will get better in a few months.
HSBC also have an arrangement that you can withdraw cash from, I believe it is Westpac? machines without charge

Hi Sara,

We are with ASB. We tapped into http://www.migrantbanking.co.uk/home/ and printed off their application form, filled it in and sent it off to their London branch on 8th June along with a covering letter saying we were leaving on the 25th June, certified copies of passports (our solicitors' receptionist did this for us free), original utility bill and original bank statement.

We had an account by the 15th June - they emailed us first then sent a pack. We also got an email from a contact ASB branch in Auckland. We then asked for a more local branch and they sent us that a few days after.

We transferred our money to the ASB in London and when we got to NZ, popped into our local branch, opened an account and they transferred the money into our new account. Took about a day to transfer. So easy.

If you tell them of your urgency, it may be they could move even faster in opening an account.

We stayed in a motel for that first week, so a permanent address is not needed - just care of the motel's name. As a visitor, you will be classed as non-resident and pay a non-resident tax which, according to the bank statement I received yesterday is just 10% of the interest earned that month. We had no trouble acquiring a cheque book or EFTPOS card. We did need an address before we could get a credit card.

Hubby (bless him!) sends me money over here by transferring from our UK account to the ASB in London which automatically then gets transferred to my local NZ branch. I can also do that myself online ... but he likes to feel he is providing for us. :icon_wink: :icon_lol:

Hope that helps.
::):

We phoned National Bank and opened our accounts over the phone from the UK. Just had to call in to a branch when we arrived to collect our EFTPOS cards and cheque books. Very simple process!

[saraian]

Thanks guys that is brilliant. You just get past from pillow to post with the banks and one guy obviously gave me the wrong advice.

Taffy you had a visa though, if i ring as a visitor will it make a difference?

[saraian]

Just on the back of that.. has anyone heard of moneycorp? They transfer money and give a commercial rate, and are said to be faster and cheaper than transfering via a bank.

Doesnt make a difference what visa you are on, as long as you intend on staying longer than 3 months, you can open an account.

As for transfering your money:

http://www.movetonz.org/finance.html (Takes a few seconds to finish opening)

Thats who we used and they were great.

[Daisyspop]

HIFX will transfer your money free of charge, they have done this on two separate occasions for us. Once whilst ion the UK and then again since our arrival. Whay pay bank charges?
We, like other posters, opened an account via the internet with Westpac Migrant Banking in Auckland. They have since provided us with mortgage and all insurances.