Suggestions for a good bank

[Ace]

Our skilled migrant visa application was finally approved -- we should have our residence visas in-hand within 3 weeks.

Our house just went into escrow, so we're planning to move in early January (from California). One of the first things I'm planning to do after I arrive is to set up a new bank account. Any suggestions on a good NZ bank would be appreciated.

We're planning to live on the south island, in the area near Nelson, in case that makes a difference (I know some banks like HSB don't seem to have many branches outside of the Auckland area).

[MotherBear]

Hi Ace,

Here?s a link to Consumer where you can look up all matters to do with banking.

A link to the NZ Website List where you can find other links to the various banking sites.

This site is great for comparing all sorts of financial fees etc. Click on Account Fees to see what the banks are charging by way of fees and how much interest you?re likely to get.

Hope you can glean some information from these.

[Pulsarblu]

Hi Ace,

Yeah, MB is right to show you the link. Some banks in NZ are reducing the fees but you must use more tech savvy means of getting your money like Internet banking or phone banking. Just compare, shop around for the best product that suit your needs.

I am with ANZ, I have everyday banking account which is also the same name.$5 per month for all the transactions you do, EFTPOS, cheque, internet banking and etc. I also have another savings account called Online Call, that is fee free but I must only transfer money using online banking or phone banking. So if I need funds to my everyday account, I just need to transfer from the online call acct. Good interest on the savings account too at %7/year. Also to mention that everyday acct has no min balance, online call has $2000 minimum balance.

I am not entirely sure if ANZ is everywhere in SI but I think it should be. Seen it many times when I was there.

Pulsarblu

[Ace]

If rates and fees are the only tangible differences between the banks, then it's a straightforward process to pick a bank.

Are there also differences in things like quality of service, friendliness, attitude, flexibility, personal banking, reliability, etc? There are some banks in the US that I would never do business with because of horribly long lines and poor service, for example, regardless of how good their fees were. Other banks might charge slightly higher fees, but they also provide a much higher level of service. I'm also concerned about the ease of managing overseas wire transfers, and help with other immigration-related banking issues.

[nattydread]

if you and / or your other half will be working for the govenment (health or education or whatever) then go for Westpac.. they have a scheme for government employess which means you don't get a lot of the charges..

[MotherBear]

Local banks come out top in customer survey, HSBC trails
1.00pm Wednesday October 11, 2006

New Zealand-owned banks TSB and PSIS have topped the latest Consumers' Institute survey of customer satisfaction. Both scored a 98 per cent approval rating, with ASB Bank, Kiwibank and National Bank all given ratings higher than 90 per cent.

HSBC was given the lowest satisfaction rating for the third year running, at 47 per cent. BNZ, ANZ and Westpac were all below the average approval rating of 84 per cent.

The Consumer survey is the largest survey of its kind, with more than 8200 respondents from a random selection of 12,000 Consumer subscribers.

PSIS chief executive Girol Karacaoglu said personal service was "absolutely critical". "We know all our customers by name or at least we try to. They are not numbers, they are people," he told National Radio. Whether you are a millionaire or earn $10,000 a year, you are treated exactly the same."

TSB managing director Kevin Rimmington said his bank concentrated on personal banking rather than corporate banking, and put its customers first. Kiwibank chief executive Sam Knowles admitted that PSIS and TSB had a headstart as they operated at a very local level.

At the bottom of the rankings, 42 per cent of HSBC customers surveyed complained about poor customer service. They said the bank's telephone banking system was overly complicated and they often had communication problems with call centre staff based offshore.

HSBC chief executive Norman Wilson said mergers and acquisitions involving the bank over the past three years had caused some "confusion" but he was confident ratings would improve. He pointed out that only 45 customers out of a total of 50,000 took part in the survey.

Finance workers union Finsec said that if big banks wanted to improve the respect and faith of their customers, they needed to stop putting sales, technology advances and profit ahead of long-term customer relationships. "The banks that have done the best in this survey are those that have focused on their communities and invested in their retail networks," said general secretary Andrew Casidy.

- NZPA