Trying to open an ASB account

We are trying to open an ASB before we leave for NZ (end of june). I have the form and can fill it out but there may be a problem with sending certified copies. We don't know a solicitor, or anyone else on the list. We are not comfortable sending originals so close to flying out. We were considering going down to London and hand delivering the application hoping the bank will take the copies of our relevent documentation whilst we are there. Personally, I am not keen on that idea - time and money and things we have very little of at the moment. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Oh and I have tried phoning (answermachine) and emailing (no reply) ASB but have had no response to both.

It doesn't have to be an advocate or solicitor who certifies the documents, a Notary Public can do this for you. Have a look through Yellow Pages under Solicitors to see if any advertises Notary, if not just phone round a few & explain circumstances.

The process is very simple - they photocopy the document, press a seal & sign - and takes about 2 minutes. A Notary may not even charge, they may just ask for a donation to a charity as happened to me when I asked for all my ITA documents to be certified.

To open our ASB account from the UK, we took photocopies, along with originals, to our local bank branch, (in this case Nationwide), and they certified them for us.

This was obviously acceptable as they opened an account for us. You can always phone ASB and check first if you want.

Also our bank certified them for free!

Hope this helps

Cheers

Tia

My local notary did charge for some docs I needed, but it was only £20 as I recall. That was for about 10 documents.

I used to think that was a lot of money....

Cheers

David

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Originally Posted by karlbridges

We are not comfortable sending originals so close to flying out. We were considering going down to London and hand delivering the application hoping the bank will take the copies of our relevent documentation whilst we are there. Personally, I am not keen on that idea - time and money and things we have very little of at the moment. .

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We actually had to do this - as it appeared that our paperwork went "missing in the post" - so if you are short of time - it may be worth considereing.

Many thanks for your suggestion

Last year i emailed immigration dept. of ASB bank in Auckland;
with the question to open a bank account already;

all i needed to do was fax them a copy of my passport and
a recent invoice stating my current address
(live in The Netherlands)
thats was all, after a few weeks i got a email
with account number and email-address of my personal manager;

when i arrived in NZ for short holiday, i visited the nearest
branch office close to airport and walked in;
showed them my bank account number, they then gave me a
bankcard with pin-code (self choosen) and that was it
(i remitted before i left some funds to my account)

i walked out of the bank and took nz cash out of the machine there

(when i was at the ASB bank i also applied for a internet banking
account and can now fm Holland make payments on-line too)

i receive once a month a bankstatement fm nz by normal mail.

:clap

I opened an account with Westpac and posted a certified copy of passport to Auckland office. This allowed the account to be activated immediately, signed up for internet banking and offered a credit card. The credit card doubles as an ATM card and this was posted to Jersey free of charge. The only thing I had to do when on a short holiday was go to a branch to set up a PIN but I could still use the card by signing or paying for things over the phone/internet beforehand. I found it so handy being able to pay for everything on holiday with a card and not get hit with exchange rate charges on every transaction. :D

Sounds like ASB aren't being very helpful here,try Westpac I've found them to be helpful over the years.In fact they used to ring me at home in the U.K. whilst I was setting up accounts here.Can't see Nat West doing the same when I'm returning.