Looking for a new bank

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Looking for a new bank

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Snowflake

#605389 4-Apr-2012 23:15

ASB++ (except I don't like their visa offering - bnz's is better)

I personally advise friends against choosing westpac, especially if you have a mortgage. they have the worst break fees and the highest floating rates. their credit card points schemes also worked out at the worst value even though they give you a 'free' amex too.

I used to be with ANZ for personal banking, national for business account. neither really stood out, but were adequate options.

I have a credit card with bnz. love the credit card and the benefits/points earning (globalplus) *hate* the netguard system where you have to carry a card of codes to log on to their internet site.

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grant_k

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#605390 4-Apr-2012 23:23

Regs: ...
I personally advise friends against choosing westpac
...

+1

I am the Treasurer of a non-profit society, and they have been with Westpac since the year dot. Westpac is the most unhelpful bank I have ever dealt with. Previously I have banked with BNZ and National, in addition to ASB, Kiwibank and Rabobank that I still use. Westpac is bottom of the list so far as I, and other officers in our society are concerned.

billgates

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#605391 4-Apr-2012 23:32

ASB for everyday banking and ANZ for credit card. ASB's online banking is top notch. Only reason I have my credit card with ANZ is due to the airpoints rewards system they offer with their platinum visa card. $80 spend gets you 1 airpoints and they never expire!

Do whatever you want to do man.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

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#605395 4-Apr-2012 23:41

semigeek: I'm looking at changing my bank, all I need is a bank that does something like ANZ's Serious Saver which rewards with bonus interest each month. I am currently with ANZ and don't want to go near National for reasons I don't want to go into. So wondering if anyone banks with Kiwibank and how do you find them? Their Heaps software looks interesting. Otherwise, my only real other options are BNZ, SBS, or ASB or Westpac.

ASB are quite good.

Their platinum visa card is very cheap (at least i got it on a promo, not sure if it is still open).

A couple of bad points which affect me, they charge a couple of bucks for setting up internet payees.

ASB also charge for internet access to business forex accounts. Other banks out there offer a better business fx internet service for free.

tardtasticx

3075 posts

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#605399 4-Apr-2012 23:51

Couldn't recommend ASB more, their staff are extremely knowledgeable and really great to deal with, best Customer Service I've ever experienced. It really does make a difference at the end of the day.

Their online banking is superb, and the IOS app is really helpful even though its just their mobile web page.

I can't say much about their accounts, but I'm with their tertiary package and its fantastic. The most fee's I pay are $2/month for overdraft, and thats only if I go into negative so most of the time I pay nothing to use their services.

I can't think of anything bad to say about them, other than that my credit card bill was sent to my old address, but that was apparently a flaw in their system which was resolved in the days after, and they were extremely quick to inform me of anything they found and kept me in the loop which was really great.

They are really efficient with time too, I remember when I was with Westpac and I had to speak to someone about opening another account I think, and they made me make an appointment because the guy was out, but with ASB, when I had to speak to someone about changing to a Tertiary account, getting a MasterCard and an overdraft, the guy was out so they did a video call to someone else and everything was sorted the same day. Even changed my KiwiSaver to them and it took all of like 5 minutes to do as well.

mattwnz

20141 posts

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#605404 5-Apr-2012 00:01

TSB, they have the best customer service for NZ banks. Rabodirect if you want bonus interest and don't want to be penalized for taking money out. Currently 4.50%. Other banks like BNZ, ANZ, NB also have this rate,m but you do get penalised if you take any money out, and don't deposit money each month.
ASB are OK, but their interest rates are poor compared to other banks. I have also had problems with their pre authorised companies automatic payment systems not accepting inputs properly, and coming up with error messages. Their online banking is a bit clunky and old fashioned. Kiwibank has one of the best online banking platforms in terms of usability. National banks one isn't bad either. National bank and ANZ bank are essentially the same bank these days, and the NB brand is apparently going to be phased out.

insane

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#605408 5-Apr-2012 00:54

ASB gets my vote too, the ability to transfer money to any other ASB account in real-time is something they have done for years. I believe only recently some others have caught up on this front.

Overall their internet banking services are easy to use, although their system goes into "night mode" too early, therefore certain functionality is prohibited late at night.

On the Credit Card front I do miss not being able to have a EFTPOS/VISA card all-in-one as I had with National Bank. The new bright Yellow ASB VISA cards look horrible, maybe a way to get people onto the Gold/Platinum ones :)

Branch banking as mentioned is very good, a teller once threw her fancy keyboard thingy over the counter to me so I could transfer money online using her PC so I didn't have to pay a transaction fee!

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meesham

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Ultimate Geek

#605414 5-Apr-2012 01:19

I use ASB for their credit card and share trading and National Bank for transaction account, savings, mortgage & business accounts. I used to have my business accounts with ASB and they were great and the CC rewards system is better than the National's.

I also completely agree with what's been said about Westpac so far, they're an absolute nightmare and I'll never deal with them again. I had personal accounts with them and was originally going to get my mortgage with them, only to be told at the last minute that we'd need a 25% deposit instead of 20% because all of my company's income comes from overseas, and then kept us waiting for 3 days while they tried to allow a 20% deposit (making broken promises about making progress updates along the way). The National Bank approved us with a 20% deposit within a couple of hours.

johnr

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#605423 5-Apr-2012 05:41

insane: On the Credit Card front I do miss not being able to have a EFTPOS/VISA card all-in-one!

My ASB credit card / EFTPOS is just one card now, ASB have been able to do this for a while

John

redjet

299 posts

Ultimate Geek

#605445 5-Apr-2012 07:34

l43a2: im with ASB and they are great to deal with, always friendly people when you need help on the phone or in a branch

+1

ASB's internet banking is excellent and they have great customer service.

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tardtasticx

3075 posts

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#605449 5-Apr-2012 08:05

Thanks for pointing out CC and EFTPOS cards could be merged, thats awesome.
Called the customer helpline, was on hold for no more than 2 mins, and they set it up not 20seconds after I verified who I was. So fast, love it. They also explained what to do at the machine which saved a lot of confusion, which was nice :D

cisconz

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#605450 5-Apr-2012 08:07

I am really surprised at all the positive ASB customers here.
I have had ASB and BNZ for a very long time, and due to limitations in ASB's system I have changed things across to BNZ time and time again., BNZ I couldn't recommend more, but ASB i find that everytime I am there, even working on someone elses account they try to sell me something.

Hmmmm

corksta

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#605470 5-Apr-2012 08:33

Another vote for ASB. Had banked with Westpac for 20 years, the service I received was pretty average, final straw was when we applied for a mortgage with them and it was declined due to them being unhappy with the risk involved (buying a share of the in-laws' house). Went to ASB and they approved it so moved everything over, service is excellent, online banking is excellent, virtual branch on Facebook is excellent.

Having said that you don't need to keep all your eggs in one basket. We have a couple small savings accounts with ASB, a Notice Saver account at Kiwibank, a Serious Saver account at ANZ, and a small credit card with BNZ.

davidcole

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#605473 5-Apr-2012 08:36

lchiu7: I have both BankDirect and ASB. I have been with BD for years (probably when they were the first virtual bank). The service is excellent and my account manager always calls me when I have a mortgage renewal and negotiates a slightly better rate than listed.

I guess the only annoying thing is BD don't have a smartphone app while their parent ASB does! It seems a bit strange to me - why can't they share code?

I have a transaction account with BD that pays interest and no fees at all if the balance is $5K and over and so I have never paid bank transaction fees.

My thoughts exactly. I look at the BD site, has mobile site, but not "touch" enabled, like the ASB one. And a few other feature missing (like the track my spending). Wish they'd just integrate the 2 (and keep some of the legacy BD products eg High Interest Transaction account).

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davidcole

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#605474 5-Apr-2012 08:38

johnr:
insane: On the Credit Card front I do miss not being able to have a EFTPOS/VISA card all-in-one!

My ASB credit card / EFTPOS is just one card now, ASB have been able to do this for a while

John

What's weird is they've only just allowed that....But bankdirect has had it for almost 10 years...can't under stand why.

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