Bank Accounts

[dwhite468]

Hi All,

Well much to our delight, we got our residence visas approved and a job offer last week! :blue banana

So, we'll be flying first week in November!

The question: I have seen people commenting on the forum that they set up a bank account online, and then went to collect the bank card on arrival in NZ. Could anyone please give us a starting point for some banks to look at? Specifically, we're heading to Napier and would find it very useful to join a bank that has a convenient branch for us to get to.

Many thanks,

Laura

[globalnomad]

Hi Laura,

Congratulations! We're headed out to Wellington next week, and it's been chaos at home trying to get everything together.

We just opened a bank account with Westpac. The migrant banking team was very professional - we received an account number and details within 24 hours of filling out the form online.

We also opened a credit card account with them based on my proof of income (I have a job offer and so submitted my contract), which will be available to pick up (along with the debit cards and other banking materials) when we arrive in Wellington.

Once everything is set up, they will ask you to make an appointment with the local office to pick up the account materials and cards.

As far as Napier specific info goes, I'm sure they must have branches in Napier - but will defer to someone else on that

[savayreon]

A list of all registered banks in New Zealand: http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/nzbanks/0091622.html.
I think it is best to go through their websites to find a bank that suits your expectations best. A few have a service for immigrants where you can set up a bank account already before you arrive.

[Manks]

We set an account up with Westpac in a jiffy through their migrant banking team online and had an appointment set up for just after our arrival to pick up cards etc.

Having "popped in" to Napier last week, I can confirm that civilisation does exist and I believe all major banks are present.

Another option is Kiwibank as they are administered through the Post Shops so accessible wherever there's a Post Shop! We're thinking of switching to them anyway.

[BigRed]

BNZ, Westpac and NBNZ all have migrant banking teams based in the UK that you can talk to. Just check their websites.

[dwhite468]

Thank you all for the info!

[gorstsmit]

Hi,

I don't know whether the deal is still on - but if you haven't booked flights yet, then Emirates had an agreement to give UK travellers increased baggage if they opened an account with ANZ - we did and it worked a treat - 50kg allowance! Link below to the thread I posted on it.

http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=34677

Cheers and good luck!