banking

[missvee]

:-/ Hi everyone. I would like to know if anyone has any recommendations for a bank. I will be working full time so need a current and savings account also an internet account. Anyone had good experiences with a bank?
Missvee

[MotherBear]

There?s a previous thread about banks here which contains a few links to helpful sites. ?I?ll leave it to other members to add their personal opinions and experiences. ? ?

[missvee]

:) Thanks Mother Bear that's really helpful.
Missvee

[CrystalLil]

Apologies if anyone's already mentioned this...but I recommend ASB because you can open an account with them really easily - we didn't have proof of address and only one form of ID! And, if you open their internet bank account, you can avoid paying any bank charges. Just about all the banks here charge you for every single thing you want to do with your money - deposits, withdrawls, paying by cheque or EFTPOS (Their version of switch)..but if you open a Fastnet account (I think that's what it's called) with ASB and opt not to receive paper bank statements, there is no annual fee to have the account. Also, if you do all your transactions electronically and only use ASB ATMs to withdraw money, you can avoid paying any charges at all. Loads of banks, especially in the town centre of Auckland, advertise their migrant banking services..but I don't reckon you need them. Quite often they require that you make a minimum deposit - again, with the ASB account, I didn't have to do this! Hooray for the ASB!!

[ambrose]

Hi the name of the current account is, Streamline.

Warning though, this account is only almost fee free. If you want to set up a bill payment is cost $2 one off fee. A bit of a shock as i set up for Electric, Gas, Telephone ans SKY TV online. They class this as a service charge and there are quite a few of them.

you can also set up an online savings account called Fastsaver, the int rate on that is currently 7%

Still that said, having spoken to people at work, this is the best out there.

Enjoy

Alex

[MotherBear]

While we?re discussing banking, this helps to explain how interest rates are worked out which has a knock-on effect on mortgages.

[Debd]

Hi missvee,

We went with Bank of New Zealand for no particular reason. I was shocked by all the initial charges as most people have said here. You pay $5 fee per month just because...... :( then it used to be $2 for every transaction after the first 20 or 30 (that are free!! Wow big deal!!)..... I had a good old moan in the bank and said that I'm sure Westpac had a better deal!!
After a few weeks they dropped their $2 per transaction charge and also it's teller charge of $2 per visit to the desk!!!(I think!). You getb used to it though but it has all the usual facilities: internet banking etc.. so we're not in a ruch to change banks, they've been fine!! We set it up in the UK before we left for NZ, great communication from them by the way.... then had an appointment to go in and activate out accounts.Hope this is of some use to you. :-)

[missvee]

Thanks again for the advice, it is helpful because a lot of people won,t know about the charges. Banks here hide there charges in extortionate hiddenfees. At least they are up front with it in NZ, as long as they don't have hidden charges, do they?
Missvee

[justNoZi]

gotta say national bank.

have online account no fees.

not had any issues and anytime ive dealt with staff theyve been helpful as well as efficient.

National Bank are great, we've been with them since we got here. The only thing I find with them though, is that they are slow to react to the market, so not very competitive.

Most of the other banks stay up with the times, and come out with some great offers. What their service is like though, I wouldnt like to say, so we've just stayed put.

Another good bank is Kiwibank, as their branches are franchised in Post shops, which are everywhere so making them very accessible. They also offer very competitive rates on many things.