denalipop
8th September 2009, 02:13 AM
Hi, I am in the US, and am trying to get a NZ bank account setup so that I have move some money over there before I arrive.
A few weeks ago, I applied for an account with Kiwibank. They said it was successful, and I received an email which looked like this:
... I'm pleased to advise that your requested account has been opened.
New account details
- Account type: NOW Account
- Your Kiwibank access number: 1234567
- Your Kiwibank account number: 38-9009-0123456-00
For security reasons, you can only set up internet banking and additional services (such as a cheque book, ATM card etc) once you identify yourself at a Kiwibank branch in New Zealand by presenting a copy of this email and your passport. Your bank statements can only be sent to you by email once you have identified yourself.
International money transfers
International money transfers make sending and receiving money as simple as possible. It's a secure way to receive money from overseas directly into your bank account. It's also fast and your money will normally be available within three to four business days.
Please provide the following details to your overseas bank:
- Account name: My Name
- Account number: 38-9009-012456-00 (note that the third # is slightly different from before)
- Bank: Kiwibank Limited, Wellington, New Zealand
- SWIFT Code: CITINZ2X Citi New Zealand, processing for Kiwibank
- Correspondents: Use Citi NZ correspondents for all currencies
Banks overseas may also ask you to provide additional information, such as bank and branch numbers, BSB numbers, sort codes, routing codes or IBAN numbers – these are not necessary as your full Kiwibank account number includes this detail.
The sending bank may have an existing relationship with another New Zealand bank and may choose to send the funds via that bank instead of Citi NZ. These funds will still be credited to your account but the fee deducted by the other NZ bank (generally between NZ$20.00 to NZ$25.00) will be higher than the fee charged by Kiwibank when it comes via Citi NZ (NZ$12.00).
Please email us when you’ve arranged the international money transfer so we can follow up with the status of your application. ...
I then setup an account with xe trade (xe.com), which is a currency exchange company. When they asked for information about the recipient bank I provided them with the information in the International money transfers section of Kiwibank's email. I then placed a test transaction.
Unfortunately, a few days later I was notified that the transaction failed (causing me a $30 penalty!) because the Kiwibank account number was invalid.
The account number I used was the one in the International money transfers section (e.g., 38-9009-012456-00). Note how this differs slightly from the account number in the first section (38-9009-0123456-00); one has "0123456" and the other has "012456". Kiwibank's email to me looks like a form letter, so I can't imagine it being a typo, but I don't want to rule that out.
The reason I am posting here is that Kiwibank has not answered my emails about this. I was warned that their customer service is not that great, and so I figured I'd post here and see if you guys have any insight.
My questions are these:
1) Has anyone else had a similar problem getting funds to transfer into their Kiwibank account (before arriving in NZ)?
2) Has anyone else had a similar problem getting funds transferred via xe.com (into any NZ bank)?
3) For those of you who setup a Kiwibank account overseas like I did, was the account number the same in the "New account details" section and the "International money transfers" section? Or was there a digit missing from the latter, as with mine?
4) Is there a different NZ bank that you would recommend that I try, keeping in mind that I'm not in NZ yet?
Thanks a bunch!
- Denalipop
A few weeks ago, I applied for an account with Kiwibank. They said it was successful, and I received an email which looked like this:
... I'm pleased to advise that your requested account has been opened.
New account details
- Account type: NOW Account
- Your Kiwibank access number: 1234567
- Your Kiwibank account number: 38-9009-0123456-00
For security reasons, you can only set up internet banking and additional services (such as a cheque book, ATM card etc) once you identify yourself at a Kiwibank branch in New Zealand by presenting a copy of this email and your passport. Your bank statements can only be sent to you by email once you have identified yourself.
International money transfers
International money transfers make sending and receiving money as simple as possible. It's a secure way to receive money from overseas directly into your bank account. It's also fast and your money will normally be available within three to four business days.
Please provide the following details to your overseas bank:
- Account name: My Name
- Account number: 38-9009-012456-00 (note that the third # is slightly different from before)
- Bank: Kiwibank Limited, Wellington, New Zealand
- SWIFT Code: CITINZ2X Citi New Zealand, processing for Kiwibank
- Correspondents: Use Citi NZ correspondents for all currencies
Banks overseas may also ask you to provide additional information, such as bank and branch numbers, BSB numbers, sort codes, routing codes or IBAN numbers – these are not necessary as your full Kiwibank account number includes this detail.
The sending bank may have an existing relationship with another New Zealand bank and may choose to send the funds via that bank instead of Citi NZ. These funds will still be credited to your account but the fee deducted by the other NZ bank (generally between NZ$20.00 to NZ$25.00) will be higher than the fee charged by Kiwibank when it comes via Citi NZ (NZ$12.00).
Please email us when you’ve arranged the international money transfer so we can follow up with the status of your application. ...
I then setup an account with xe trade (xe.com), which is a currency exchange company. When they asked for information about the recipient bank I provided them with the information in the International money transfers section of Kiwibank's email. I then placed a test transaction.
Unfortunately, a few days later I was notified that the transaction failed (causing me a $30 penalty!) because the Kiwibank account number was invalid.
The account number I used was the one in the International money transfers section (e.g., 38-9009-012456-00). Note how this differs slightly from the account number in the first section (38-9009-0123456-00); one has "0123456" and the other has "012456". Kiwibank's email to me looks like a form letter, so I can't imagine it being a typo, but I don't want to rule that out.
The reason I am posting here is that Kiwibank has not answered my emails about this. I was warned that their customer service is not that great, and so I figured I'd post here and see if you guys have any insight.
My questions are these:
1) Has anyone else had a similar problem getting funds to transfer into their Kiwibank account (before arriving in NZ)?
2) Has anyone else had a similar problem getting funds transferred via xe.com (into any NZ bank)?
3) For those of you who setup a Kiwibank account overseas like I did, was the account number the same in the "New account details" section and the "International money transfers" section? Or was there a digit missing from the latter, as with mine?
4) Is there a different NZ bank that you would recommend that I try, keeping in mind that I'm not in NZ yet?
Thanks a bunch!
- Denalipop