[BkyMonster]

I'm thinking about what kind of bank account I'll be wanting from Westpac and I am wondering about checks (cheques?).

I've read a bit that EFTPOS is quite widespread in use, but I'm wondering about how one pays for certain things.

Letting fees and rent?

Buying a car at auction or off trademe from a private vendor? I'm guessing cash, but that's why I ask.

I currently only use checks for paying my rent (and sometimes bills that don't have an online feature). When I owned a house that was all paid online. I'm just wondering what other peoples experiences are with paying for things.

Anywhere it is common to use cash and not EFTPOS?

[ourquest]

Yes, eftpos is extremely widespread and most purchases seem to be made using it. We pay rent using a weekly automatic bank stop order which was set up by the letting agent; we just filled in a form authorising it. Small trade me purchases can be easily paid for at the vendors bank, or alternatively by internet transfer. In my opinion banking is made much easier by all NZ banks having the identical format for account numbers, with the 2 digit prefix identifying the bank in question. We bought our car with a wad of bank notes but could equally well have made an internet payment. The general level of honesty and accountability is quite high in NZ and many transactions can be done with a high degree of trust.
I am now ducking in anticipation as someone out there will probably dispute this last point! :)
Oh, and cheques appear to be fairly uncommon. We hold a cheque account and the bank haven't even issued us with a chequebook.

[BkyMonster]

We pay rent using a weekly automatic bank stop order which was set up by the letting agent; we just filled in a form authorising it.

Well that is handy. :nice1

[mgbridges]

Agree with ourquest, EFTPOS widely used and you can pay for most things either with that, credit card or via bank transfer. I would also agree that there is a high degree of trust especially on Trademe where it is common to be given vendors bank details and asked to pay that way.

I use cash for small transactions sometimes and like to have a bit of cash on me but could probably cope without.

We moved banks back in Oct 2007 and don't have a cheque book and have not needed one up to this point. Even the guy who comes to cut the lawn has given me his bank details so I can pay him buy bank transfer!!

HTH
Anneliese

[Georgebulldog]

We have a cheque book but have rarely used it, maybe twice
Seems you can just pay by cartd for the silliest small amounts, trouble is I never have any cash on me anymore

[YouMeAndThree]

Have literally just put the phone down after having a chat with our NZ New Immigrant Account Manager! I asked about getting a cheque book for the account (we opened it at Expo in March) and was told that he could order one, but in all honesty they are not really used in NZ.

Lx

[BkyMonster]

Sounds like I'll be free of checks then. Excellent!

[KerryS]

I've not used a cheque from my cheque book yet, and I've been here over 5 years. I use eftpos frequently - even just to buy a couple of items from the dairy.
The only place I've found that doesn't have eftpos is Eden Park, which is a bit annoying as I have to remember to get cash out before I go to a game.

I bought my new car from TradeMe, and just did an internet transfer of the funds to the seller. Mortgage, rent, bills etc are all paid via automatic payment via the bank. I do all my banking online and find it incredibly easy to move money around between accounts - you can link all your accounts together at Westpac to do this (even your credit card if you have one).