[RoadRunner]

I am shocked at the sheer volume of fees for each and every transaction at the NZ banks! :eek

You even have to pay a fee to deposit money! What kind of a ripoff is this!

I'm so used to the US system where everything is free as long as you have direct payroll deposit. I couldn't find anything like that for NZ banks.

Has anyone made sense of this? How do you avoid paying a fortune in fees every month?

Are you better off paying monthly bills via check or online or ?? How are things done over there?!

Please help! I'm in shock! :eek :eek
RoadRunner

[ruthyroo]

It is a bit of a shocker and I haven't found any way around it. We are charged everytime we so much as sneeze outside the Nat Bank... Only way to reduce is that we have gone for a $10 / month charge, with unlimited free Eftpos / cash machine takeouts. But yep every other transaction costs, such as making changes to automatic payments / setting up auto payments / using another bank cash machine. no way round it that we have found...

[Moorf]

Some banks offer a no-fee account if you keep $5k in the account...

[Beach Kiwi]

Are you better off paying monthly bills via check or online?

Online, or regular direct debits into their bank account is the cheapest option usually, although there are still about 20% of people who prefer to use cheques.

Here's some other (smaller) banks you might not have looked in to:

TSB Bank fees (http://www.tsbbank.co.nz/servicefees/)

KiwiBank fees (http://www.kiwibank.co.nz/kiwicat/kiwicat_fee_comparison.stm)

While this one isn't quite a bank, it's close enough to being one:

PSIS fees (http://www.psis.co.nz/InternetBanking/nt/fees.asp)

[Diny]

We are with Kiwi Bank. We opened the account yonks ago on one of our visits to NZ. Although we haven't really 'used' the account on a day to day basis as yet - we have only made deposits - we've never had any bank charges applied to our account.

However, having looked at the link (provided by BK), it looks like you get so many 'free' transactions per year then they start hitting you for charges.

I can't see us using this bank for our 'major stuff' when we arrive, we'll be doing plenty of shopping around. From what I can see they're all as good/bad as each other really. Swings and roundabouts.

Diny

[Moorf]

Plus if you pay by direct debit you won't forget to pay and therefore get your "on time payment" discounts :nice1

[AliJax]

I was a little confused with some of the charges and looking for charges with ASB found this page on their website

http://www.asbbank.co.nz/FastnetNews/download/0604_ASB_Fee_Brochure.pdf


Hope this is useful to you making your descisions on your banks!

[Nic in NZ]

moorf i know the account you are talking about, ASB have an account called Omni Gold where you pay a fee for no transaction costs but you have to have $5000 min balance.
there is another way around the bank costs, we have a mortgage with our bank ( being ASB) and we have a normal Omni account ( not the Omni gold) we do get charged for transactions, eftpos, atm's and so on but because the bank regards us as a valued customer ( because we have the mortgage not because we have been with them ages only being here 6 mths) so we get a $20 discount each month which generally covers the costs of all transactions ( most only being about 50 cents each)
Its just a thought
Nicola

[Gran]

If you have a significant partnership with the ASB, say a mortgage or a large investment you can negotiate a no charges situation, (except visa charges)

Also one consolation about being older is that none of the banks charge anything if you are retired and have your super paid in to that bank.
Gran

[real_sunfire]

The flipside to NZ bank charges at least for people from the UK (not sure about the US) is that you don't have to wait 3 - 5 days for a transaction to "clear". I understand most transfers can be done within a few hours or overnight.

Unfortunately the banks have to get money out of you anyhow. *:(

Rgds.,
Nick.

[RoadRunner]

Nic,
there is another way around the bank costs, we have a mortgage with our bank ( being ASB) and we have a normal Omni account ( not the Omni gold) we do get charged for transactions, eftpos, atm's and so on but because the bank regards us as a valued customer ( because we have the mortgage not because we have been with them ages only being here 6 mths) so we get a $20 discount each month which generally covers the costs of all transactions
That sounds like a very creative approach! :nice1
We'll definitely check that out! :yes

Thanks, Alijax, for that link. :yes

This will definitely take some research as it is not as simple as opening a credit union account with direct deposit (and therefore no fees) like it is here...

Thanks for all the helpful ideas!
RoadRunner

[debnjohn]

Thanks for the links, Beach Kiwi
Looking at the Kiwi bank link, I found this account:
http://www.kiwibank.co.nz/products/front_runner.stm
It looks like a free account if you hold at least $4000 in combined accounts.
Perhaps they have a high interest savings account you could keep the bulk in, then use a current account fo day-to-day banking?
Hopefully someone else will look at this as well, as I'm bound to have missed the obvious flaw :oops:
How widespread are the Kiwi Bank branches, anyone?
And is Internet banking readily available in NZ? I can't remember the last time I visited a UK bank branch (must be at least 5 years ago).
John

[shagen]

We opened an account with HSBC in NZ. With a minimum of $5,000 in the bank, everything is absolutely free with no limit to the maxmum number of transactions per month.

Thay pay fantastic interest as well (6.75%) so the interest you get each month is amazing! I get 2.75% in Malaysia and 1% in Indonesia so this account in NZ is like a wind fall! But actually with this interest rate, even if the balance drops below $5,000 and they charge you $10, the interest might be able to cover the cost unless the balance is very low.

They only have branches in Auckland and you can open an account via the mail (which I did). And you can use all Westpac ATMs throughout NZ for free. And get this, if you had a Westpac account and used a Westpac ATM, you woudl pay $0.50 per transaction! EFTPOS is also free with HSBC.

We used the account while we were in NZ last month and had no problems at all.

Since we also use HSBC back home, transfers are a breeze and it takes only 24 hours and no charges for wire transfers but the exchange rate is not the best.

You can find more information at www.hsbc.co.nz if anyone is interested.

Shagen

[debnjohn]

We opened an account with HSBC in NZ. With a minimum of $5,000 in the bank, everything is absolutely free with no limit to the maxmum number of transactions per month.

Thay pay fantastic interest as well (6.75%) so the interest you get each month is amazing! I get 2.75% in Malaysia and 1% in Indonesia so this account in NZ is like a wind fall! But actually with this interest rate, even if the balance drops below $5,000 and they charge you $10, the interest might be able to cover the cost unless the balance is very low.

They only have branches in Auckland and you can open an account via the mail (which I did). And you can use all Westpac ATMs throughout NZ for free. And get this, if you had a Westpac account and used a Westpac ATM, you woudl pay $0.50 per transaction! EFTPOS is also free with HSBC.

We used the account while we were in NZ last month and had no problems at all.

Since we also use HSBC back home, transfers are a breeze and it takes only 24 hours and no charges for wire transfers but the exchange rate is not the best.

You can find more information at www.hsbc.co.nz if anyone is interested.

Shagen

Spot on info. Shagen thanks very much!
I bank with First Direct in the UK (a subsidiary of HSBC). I asked one of the telephone operators late last night (gone midnight) about possible HSBC affiliates in NZ, and she mentioned Auckland (but couldn't access any other information at that time). I'm hopefully headed for Christchurch, so I'll check out Westpac as well now.

Going back to the FD telephone operator, she asked me if I minded divulging why I was interested in NZ accounts. We had a right old chin-wag. She was supposed to finish shift at 12:30, we were still gassing on at 12:50! All her colleagues had gone home! (If you're reading this, Mrs. T, then I promise to give you an update in May!)

Cheers,
John.

[Dave & Sandra]

NZ banking amazes me. We were charged $15 on our savings account because there was a transaction this month. It's the only time I think I've lost money on a savings account :no

[mark in japan]

if you can keep $5000 in your account the national bank (the one that looks like lloyds ;) ) is also free of any charges (except the $1 a month for online banking)

[pandanleave]

Shagan:

Wow thanks man for that info on HSBC. All this time I have been searching NZ banks and comparing rates, only to find that the banks are mostly offering similarly high service charges. I will take the advice of the Financial Director anytime!!

I think I will check out HSBC singapore this week and open an account with them from here.

Thanks a million!

[Carol]

Shagen - one good thing about working for a bank is you should get a couple of accounts with free banking.
(At least Kenny does in Westpac).
We dont have to pay for a withdrawl from a Westpac atm though......

C

[shagen]

Pandanleave,

As of end of April I will no longer be a Finance Director! Will be back to being an Auditor :wah

Am not sure if you can open an account with HSBC NZ in Singapore. What I did was download all the account opening forms from the NZ website, get it to a local HSBC branch, get your signature verified and obtain a Group Introduction Letter. They send the stuff for you via internal mail to NZ and within a few days, you get your account number, you need to transfer $5,000 to activate your account and then they send you all the stuff to your home address (ATM card, cheque book, PIN number etc etc). And when we arrived in NZ, we were able to use the EFTPOS card almost immediately!

Carol,

I am looking forward to cheap housing loans actually! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Never told BNZ that was my intention actually for wanting to work for them! :laugh

Shagen

[neilw71]

HSBC:

We opened an "On-line Savings Account" a few weeks ago when we arrived. It only requires $3000 to open the account and then as mentioned, no fees for general transactions. You don't have to have the account balance at any level except to get the higher rates of interest.

I know they don't have a great network, but we have 2 branches within 5 mins of us here, so they are perfect for us and as mentioned, the fact you can withdraw from Westpac ATMs without a fee makes the deal a good one!

Also, they seem to offer good deals on insurance. Always worth asking for comparison!

Neil

[joanne]

Try these guys... Sovereign www.sovereign.co.nz

They are part of ASB Bank. We have a mortgage with them and 'offset' our savings against the mortgage. There are NO FEES for ...

ASB ATM withdrawals
EFTPOS transactions
Deposits of cash or cheques through any ASB Branch
Internet /phone bill payments
Internet e cheques
Internet/phone banking auto payments

Also there are NO monthly base fees. Its a similar set up to Intelligent Finance (part of Halifax).

[StevieD]

Aaahh, they days of pay packets when you SAW the money, big payroll departments employed to do the work, not some button pushing computer programme like nowadays. Somehow it just isn't the same going to an ATM for your required cash.

[jo b]

Has anyone checked out superbank. They are online banking in NZ.

I am looking at a supersaver and super access accounts account. With SuperAccess it's $10.99 a month (or $7.99 a month if your balance is kept above $1,000). This is for all banking transactions.

http://www.superbank.co.nz/

And thanks for the tips on the mortgage deals if we get a mortgage with them hopefully we won't have to pay a monthly fee.

Jo

[jo b]

Found this good web site which gives comparisons of mortgage rates

http://www.goodreturns.co.nz/section.php?CategoryID=200&field=floating&order

[A&R]

If you have a mortgage over the value of $50,000 (or a straight loan to that amount) with Westpac they remove all transaction fees and credit card annual charges it's called Redpac here's the link

http://www.westpac.co.nz/olcontent/olcontent.nsf/Content/Redpac?OpenDocument&refr=packages

(Sorry new to this so don't know how to do the hyperlink)

We took out an account with westpac when we visited in March. Started it from the UK ( over internet) had to fax passport photo + details. They opened account and we then transferred money via SWIFT ( cost £25.00) to this account. had to activate when we were over in NZ by going into a Westpac bank with actual passports. they then gave us a debit card and all the info to go online banking etc I haven't tried transferring money from UK ( barclays) to the westpac direct over the internet yet. does anbody know if you can do this? If so what happens about tax? Does the bank slap on non resident tax at 39%?

[Avalon]

Banks make their money from interest charges and from interest that they earn on using our money. There is no need for them to charge us on top of that. To charge us is profiteering simple as that. :(

Bank fees here are ludicrous, and applied for the most spurious of reasons. ASB will even charge you for having to ask their permission to spend Your money! (The netcode release fee – a charge applied if you wish to spend over $2500 over the internet). Neither can you spend more than 2500 over eftpos in one day (requiring multiple uses for big-ticket items – therefore multiple charges. The netcode release fee is for “security” – theirs not ours. Apparently they got stung by fraud – so introduced netcode – fine in itself (though I have NEVER had to ask permission to spend MY money – not even when I was 5) – but as its for their benefit – why do I have to pay????

As others have said – you can get round this. Everything in the NZ banking system seems to be negotiable (especially once you have a mortgage or have $50k in there). Theres nothing to stop you asking your current bank to match the best offer you can get elsewhere (which is what we have done with our mortgage).

We were ready to jump to HSBC because of the free banking. We would have gone for Online Saver, as we only needed to bring over 3k (AND you do NOT need to keep a minimum balance – unlike all the other banks – in order to get fee free banking!!!)

However – their mortgage is very expensive (both interest rates AND fees – which is odd! – and they were not prepared to match westpac or ASB).

You can also wangle your way round fees (especially service fees such as getting bank cheques and moving large sums of money for bills etc) if you get a good “Personal Relationship Manager). Our ASB migrant banking manager in Auckland was useless, but I was so impressed with the help I was getting from the Mortgage guy in Welly, that I have stayed – and he gave us a really good deal. We also arranged a $20 a month discount on all fees – effectively fee free banking - and some other perks

If you cannot do this – careful use of the system can minimise fees even if you cant stop them.

Firstly – be aware that getting small amounts of cash from an ATM is EXPENSIVE. You get charged 50c each time (sometimes more). So when you get cash – get amounts that make it worth it. It always cheaper to get cash back (usually only 20c) so do that instead. Never get cash from another bank ATM – on top of the 50c charge – you get another 50c charge! It really adds up! (Do that 7 times - thast a cappucino :) )Decide how you handle cash – its different for everyone, but we now use cash much more than we did in the UK, (where we thought nothing of using switch (eftpos) for sums as small as £5 – now we have a minimum we allow of $25)

At ASB, its worth noting that for one off bills, fastcheque is the cheapest way (20c) as opposed to Bill Payment ($1.50 set up + 20c). We are paying around 10-20 a month (including $3 on the account fee). I have friends who were paying over $20!

[Avalon]

If you have a mortgage over the value of $50,000 (or a straight loan to that amount) with Westpac they remove all transaction fees and credit card annual charges it's called Redpac here's the link


But it costs $25 a month!

It does give a discount on the mortgage rate, and fee free banking - but try negotiating with other banks and see if you can get the same thing without paying the charge. Or just be plain cheeky and tell them you want all the goodies in Redpac - but free!

The worst they can do is say NO. ANZ have the same thing - but they also charge for it.

You will make savings - I found the difference between Wespac (employee pac - which is redpac without the charge) and ASB was $450 over the 2 year fixed period we chose. Its actually going to be less because we just found out we get the first year Credit card fee taken off). We stayed with ASB because the Manager we would have had at Westpac was a patronising git - and its not worth $450 saving to have a guy talk to me like im an idiot!

Its all swings an roundabouts I guess - but it really does pay to shop around here. If you find a manger you like - stick to them like glue - because im finding its saving me a fortune!

[Avalon]

Try these guys... Sovereign www.sovereign.co.nz

They are part of ASB Bank. We have a mortgage with them and 'offset' our savings against the mortgage. There are NO FEES for ...

).

Wow - this looks really good! :) Im actually depressed that I missed it! (most of the "non high street" banks i checked were actually no cheaper than ASB or Westpac - such as bank direct).

Hopefully offsetting will eventually take off here - but ill bear this in mind for next time i organise the mortgage.