I though I'd switch from ANZ to a local NZ owned bank to support the local economy, and it hasn't gone that well. I actually opened an account with every NZ bank, and here's my findings.
Finding a bank for my needs
Finding a bank for my needs
- Transaction Debit Card: For income and avoiding CC fees at shops, etc, with a debit card.
- Rewards Credit Card: I travel extensively, so having a Platinum card helps in this respect, and also I can accumulate points. I pay it back monthly, so no issues there.
- Savings: Account: To accumulate funds to 10k so I can then invest into PIE funds.
- PIE Term Deposits: Being on a tax rate higher than 28%, I put savings into PIE funds to reduce tax obligations to 28%. With my current mortgage, it works out better to invest my money than pay down.
- Mortgage: I have some money left on a mortgage that I want to move over too.
Account | Heartland Bank | SBS Bank | TSB Bank | Co-operative Bank | Kiwibank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Transaction Account | No debit card | Available | Available | Available | Available |
Rewards Credit Card | No Credit Card | Available | Available | No rewards Credit Card | Available |
Savings | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available (Also as PIE) |
PIE Term Deposits | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Available |
Mortgage | Not available | Available | Available | Available | Available |
Overall, Kiwibank is the only bank that has everything I need as a single bank. The others all are patchy in terms of services offered. Heartland for example just doesn't offer a debit or credit card, while SBS and TSB offer most things, they don't have PIE investments.
Opening an account
Opening an account
Bank | Review |
|---|---|
Heartland Bank | Heartland was the easiest to open an account with, all online. They have a an app you can use, and the whole process was pretty seamless. |
SBS Bank | Was a bit of a shitshow. Opening an account with SBS was relatively straightforward, but they lost my debit card, and tried to charge me for a replacement without telling me. SBS Credit Card is a different company to SBS, and the two just don't talk to each other. In fact they point blank asked me why I was bothering with the hassle of coming to SBS as an "Aucklander". |
TSB Bank | Turns out I had an account from many years ago, and they simply cannot re-activate it, or give me a new account. It's just "Dormant". Calling the call centre, they say a branch will call me back, and it just doesn't happen. A month later still waiting to setup my account properly. |
Co-Operative Bank | No dramas, was pretty easy online. |
Kiwibank | No dramas, was pretty easy online. |
Service
Service
Bank | Review |
|---|---|
Heartland Bank | Nearly impossible to get hold of anyone, with no real branches anywhere too as the Newmarket branch is appointment only. They respond within a few days from the app, but its a major hasslee. |
SBS Bank | For a small bank in southland, they have long wait times. I kept getting grumpy people on the phone who really didn't want to deal with me and were quite curt everytime. You don't get any sort of hospitality, and they don't solve your problems either. In the end I asked them to just close my account. |
TSB Bank | The most useless bank I've dealt with - I've been going around in hoops trying to get a Debit Card and still waiting. Their call centres close at 5:30, and have long wait-times. When you do get through, they defer to a branch person to call you, who never really do. |
Co-Operative Bank | Been the fastest so far at picking up the phone, and no dramaas in helping solve problems. |
Kiwibank | Hit and miss, sometimes the call centres have long wait times, other times they're on instantly. The staff are pretty knowledgable, and I got helped to create a PIE fund pretty promptly. Their branches are also pretty helpful and Sylvia Park didn't have any queues on the weekend (Unlike ANZ who offered me an appointment a month later). |
Kiwibank - Good, but not great
Kiwibank - Good, but not great
Overall, Kiwibank was the easiest bank to deal with in NZ, and the only one that could serve my needs and not make me want to go jump of a cliff. However, I'm starting to realise even they have issues:
- No Apple or Google Pay on anything, it's plain old plastic card: All the Australian banks support mobile payment.
- Fees for a debit card: ANZ gives me a free card, Kiwibank charges for it.
- Branch network: To open things like PIE funds, etc, its sometimes quicker to go to a branch nearby, and the local post-shop is just not the same. Granted there's proper branches, but they're few and far between.
- Credit Card: Their credit card offering is underwhelming compared to the competition.
Overall, your mileage may vary, and I hope you don't suffer as much as I did with the local banks. Sure the Australian banks have horror stories, but I'm not convinced New Zealand banks have sorted themselves out either.