Which bank in NZ should we choose to open a current account?

[Kiti]

We are in last steps to move to NZ and we are sorting out the best way to transfer money to NZ. As banks in our country only issue bank draft/check in USD and on behalf of US banks so it will take long time to clear it in NZ (at least 60 days as I have known) with high fee as well. I search in this forum and on the NZ banks website that we can open bank account before arriving in NZ to receive fund transfer and activate it when we really come to NZ. That sounds great and I have found out some NZ banks offering this service. They are ANZ, Kiwibank, ASB and Westpac. Of course, we want to choose the best bank to open our account from oversea so that we can remain it the main account for our everyday banking in NZ later. I ask for your recommendation on which bank I should choose according to your NZ experience? Thanks for your help!

[NZ2016]

Hi kiti,

Which account did you open? any updates? I am also looking at some best options? Please suggest..

[Sackboy]

Hi Kiti,

I would suggest you to go with ASB bank, they got heaps of ATMs spread all across NZ. And in OZ they will be known as Commonwealth Bank.

[Nelson81]

I was looking at the ANZ bank, since they have the option to open the account even before we touch NZ.

[JandM]

They're not the only one - see the first post above, and the banks' own websites.