NZ Banks - Looking for recommendation

Godder

We have our mortgage with ASB and bank with Kiwibank, and I put my self-employed banking through Westpac. All are fine these days in my experience.
 
That said, the smaller banks (think Cooperative, Heartland, SBS, TSB etc) will be more willing to do more for you as their best chance of differentiation from the big banks is service.
 
Also, some banks offer discounted fees etc to employees of some businesses e.g. Westpac has cheaper banking for public servants, Kiwibank has cheaper banking for most union members.

Chiefy

I've always found ASB very good to deal with although I did just have a minor issue with them recently despite living in the UK.
 
I think the worst bank in NZ will be miles better than any in the UK. Absolutely shocking over here - I had a battle on my hands just to open an account!

taniwharugby

As I went to the UK on a working holiday (whereas you are on a UK Passport aren't you?) I had to open an account before I left as part of the visa condition was to show I had Â£2000 available to me, the travel agent sorted it all for me, was easy as!

Hooroo

I don't think allow that now with money laundering laws? You must be present to open a new account I think?
 
I did the same with National bank. They just opened an account at Lloyds for me, so no dramas, but that was 2000

jegga

I just remembered why I stuck with bnz , when I was in Sydney the ATM swallowed my card leaving me with bugger all money and I'd only been there a week. I rang bnz in NZ and told them what happened and they sent me a replacement card that day , because I was staying at a backpackers I didn't want my credit card being sent there so I gave them the address of the Westpac branch I'd joined up at the day before and told them to make attn my personal banker. It turned up the next day , when I got the card off her she was blown away that a bank would actually go to that sort of trouble for a customer.

Rembrandt

TSB since I was a kid. No complaints at all. Had some shocking experiences with UK banks in the past made me appreciate how good we have it here.

No Quarter

I've had accounts with Westpac, National Bank, ANZ and BNZ.
 
By a country mile (in my experience) the worst is ANZ. As others have said above they are very keen to send any kind of debt straight to the creditors without really informing you, whereas the other banks will actually make an effort to contact you and work out a repayment.

dogmeat

add me to the ANZ sucks chorus.
 
I wanted to borrow $30K and they said I would have to come in and see a personal banker who will advise me on budgeting and other financial matters (read try and sell me shit).
 
I pointed out the size of my trading portfolio (with them), the $$$'s I put through their credit card every year and the equity in my mortgage free home and told them it was there call, but either they sort the shit out on-line then and there or I close my accounts and move everything to one of their many competitors because at the retail level banking is a commodity differentiated only by their customer service.
 
They caved but it was clearly a major for them. I would hate to work there. It seems no one is empowered to make any decision but has to follow a protocol for everything.
 
Only laziness / a belief everyone else is probably as bad has stopped me shopping around. TBF I'm not the ideal customer - apart from the merchant fees they get on my credit card spend they get nothing from me. Even the $30K taken out over 5 years was almost all paid back inside a month.

reprobate

not what you're after hooroo, and not sure how they rate on anything else - but might be useful for someone - for me the co-operative bank (formerly PSIS) is handy while overseas and just wanting to keep an account open in nz with no fees.

Chris B.

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="dogmeat" data-cid="604269" data-time="1470714749">
<div>
 
Only laziness / a belief everyone else is probably as bad has stopped me shopping around. TBF I'm not the ideal customer - apart from the merchant fees they get on my credit card spend they get nothing from me. Even the $30K taken out over 5 years was almost all paid back inside a month. 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
ANZ...sucks.
 
I needed to break a term deposit a few years ago - coincidentally just after they absorbed the National Bank (my bank till then). Turned out the penalty for breaking the TD was going to be more than $1,000.
 
So I wrote David Hisco a nasty letter telling him his marketing push was being wasted on me, that ANZ may think they're in my world, but I'm wondering what planet they're on. And crucially, pointing out how much my business was worth to them annually and that they either gave me my money back or I was gone. They folded.
 
I'm still with them, mainly through laziness, though eventually I'll get around to visiting someone else and shifting some money away.

taniwharugby

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Hooroo" data-cid="604168" data-time="1470696506">
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I don't think allow that now with money laundering laws? You must be present to open a new account I think?
 
I did the same with National bank. They just opened an account at Lloyds for me, so no dramas, but that was 2000
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</blockquote>
 
At the Travel Agents they had an HSBC exchange thing in the office, so that's who I went with...no idea about the laundering, I was too naive!

No Quarter

So the message from this thread is: anyone but ANZ. :)

Rembrandt

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="No Quarter" data-cid="604300" data-time="1470725881">
So the message from this thread is: anyone but ANZ. :)</blockquote>
 
Surprising they have so many customers. Have heard bad things about them for years.

Godder

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Rembrandt" data-cid="604302" data-time="1470727727">
Surprising they have so many customers. Have heard bad things about them for years.</blockquote>
 
They've bought a lot of other banks over the years - inertia is powerful...

taniwharugby

and plenty of people still subscribe to the biggest is best theory too, and when it comes to your money, I expect plenty see it as the safest option.

Rembrandt

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="taniwharugby" data-cid="604333" data-time="1470732752">
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and plenty of people still subscribe to the biggest is best theory too, and when it comes to your money, I expect plenty see it as the safest option.
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</blockquote>
True..just like my time in computer repairs 'I just don't understand why my computer is so slow and full of viruses, I have Norton/Symantic installed and they're the biggest player out there!'

aucklandwarlord

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Rembrandt" data-cid="604302" data-time="1470727727">
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Surprising they have so many customers. Have heard bad things about them for years.
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</blockquote>
 
It's a bit of a hassle to change banks, especially with the way that mortgages are structured, where loans are split into various fixed terms so it makes it costly to break some of them. 
 
We changed from ANZ when we were in between houses. Wish we'd done it sooner

The Silver Fern

NZ Banks - Looking for recommendation