[marybelle]

We are looking into openeing a bank account ready for our move in March. We are looking closely at Westpac as we were told that because Hubby will be a Civil Servant they will offer us free banking.

Is this correct?

What is the positon of the banks in NZ now that recession has bitten. Are there some that are safer than others? What personal savings amounts will they guarentee per person or per account?

Marybelle

[jhaddythegreat]

I'm in exactly the same situation as you and have been looking at all the NZ banks. In the end they all seem to get good reports (certainly compared to UK banks) but I've decided to go with Kiwibank simply because they seem to have cheaper transaction and account fees and secondly because it is 100% kiwi owned and seem to be less profit-orientated than the big banks. There is good information on the web about this. With no direct experience with NZ banks, I might be wrong but this is just my opinion. ASB are good if you are transferring money as they set up a London transfer account also, although you can use HiFX or other money transfer companies if you don't bank with ASB.

As for government money guarantees, I believe all savings have been guaranteed up to 1,000,000NZD but only until Oct 12th 2009. I might be wrong on this and I'm sure somebody else can confirm it for me, but I think I read it somewhere this week (I remember the date as it is the day I start my NZ job!).

Hopefully we'll get some more advice on banks from people who are in-country.

[IanW99]

We are looking into openeing a bank account ready for our move in March. We are looking closely at Westpac as we were told that because Hubby will be a Civil Servant they will offer us free banking.

Is this correct?

What is the positon of the banks in NZ now that recession has bitten. Are there some that are safer than others? What personal savings amounts will they guarentee per person or per account?

Marybelle

Couldn't tell you about Westpac, can say that I would expect other banks to also offer you very similar offers as they have to remain competitive. I certainly know that ASB give discounts etc to DHB employees.

Some banks are safer than others see List of registered banks (http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/nzbanks/0091622.html) for details of their credit ratings.

The guarantee is per person and not per account.

Ian

[IanW99]

...
As for government money guarantees, I believe all savings have been guaranteed up to 1,000,000NZD but only until Oct 12th 2009. I might be wrong on this and I'm sure somebody else can confirm it for me, but I think I read it somewhere this week (I remember the date as it is the day I start my NZ job!).
...


The guarantee actually runs to 12th October 2010.

Once an institution's application is accepted, the deposit guarantee will be effective against defaults by the deposit taker occurring between 12 October 2008 and 12 October 2010 (“the guarantee period”).

Ian

[Red Devil]

I can recommend Westpac, their service has been 1st class and opening an account was a breeze!

I must say the level of communication with our migrant bank manager in Christchurch has been excellent, even passing on his direct phone number should we need to talk in detail about anything... no chance of that happening in the UK!

OH is a nurse and qualifies us for free banking with Westpac but like Ian says, most of the NZ banks offer this to remain competitive :nice1

[marybelle]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Its good to know that savings will be somewhat protected until 2010. It won't really affect us once we have bought a house but just needed some reassurance for the short term.

Red Devil.

Its great to hear of such a first rate service! We are a little limited as to which bank to choose as we are going to Kaitaia and there are only 4 banks in the town. Westpac will probably be our choice.

Marybelle

[James 1077]

I can't recommend Westpac highly enough - they are absolutely brilliant and really friendly.

I can also confirm that they do offer free banking for government employees (they are the bank the government banks with) and discounts on things like car insurance etc. You can also get free accounts if you do banking electronically for non-government workers (like me!).

I must say though that coming from the UK to NZ the banking system here is an absolute dream! Easily the easiest people to deal with - some branches open 7 days a week and very friendly!

[marybelle]

Thanks for that James 1077

Discount car insurance, very nice :D

[seattle]

Wespac has been great for us also including bringing over USD.

[walshy]

Im with kiwibank and its basically a post office that does a bit of banking, painfully slow in branch to do anything