Why are BNZ and KiwiBank ditching MasterCard for Visa?

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Why are BNZ and KiwiBank ditching MasterCard for Visa?

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#2412569 4-Feb-2020 17:21

mrdrifter:

I haven't even received any notification from Kiwibank on any changes to my card type or about being issued a Visa. I assume some sort of notification will be sent soon?

There are three possibilities:

KiwiBank hate me personally and specifically, and it's just me being forced to change over.
You are The Lucky Guy, one of a specially selected privileged few who can keep their MasterCard
Your notice is coming soon, as the inexorable KB Credit Card Machinery works its way through the alphabet.

Guess which one I'd put my money on?
😂

Ge0rge

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#2412570 4-Feb-2020 17:25

PolicyGuy:
mrdrifter:

I haven't even received any notification from Kiwibank on any changes to my card type or about being issued a Visa. I assume some sort of notification will be sent soon?

There are three possibilities:

KiwiBank hate me personally and specifically, and it's just me being forced to change over.

You are The Lucky Guy, one of a specially selected privileged few who can keep their MasterCard

Your notice is coming soon, as the inexorable KB Credit Card Machinery works its way through the alphabet.

Guess which one I'd put my money on?
😂

Haven't received anything from them yet either. Perhaps they are starting from "Z"?

DarkShadow

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#2412602 4-Feb-2020 18:59

sbiddle: For anybody who travels I see ANZ as a no brainer for the best bank - cheap(er) foreign conversion fees than many other banks and no foreign ATM fees.

Flight Center doesn't charge foreign conversion fees - I believe they are the only card on the market that doesn't.

tripp

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#2412644 4-Feb-2020 19:59

I got notice about a year ago saying my renew card will be switching from MasterCard to visa. 2 months later my new card turned up and it was still a MasterCard lol.

davidcole

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#2412667 4-Feb-2020 20:54

Sounds like some of these banks can’t bank to save themselves.

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#2412675 4-Feb-2020 21:10

Very Funny as I just got a new MasterCard (expires 2022) and they still have MasterCard on their online banking app as an ‘application for a new Credit Card’ Option too!

My surname starts with V though, so maybe they’ll only get to me neeeext year now 😂😂

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#2412684 4-Feb-2020 21:15

networkn:

I don't think Kiwibank charge overseas ATM fees any more either. The certainly don't charge to use other NZ ATM's.

$6 foreign ATM fee + 2.5% conversion at Kiwibank

They're really not competitive both most of their offerings, which is why they're basically unable to gain market share.

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#2412708 4-Feb-2020 21:24

sbiddle:

networkn:

I don't think Kiwibank charge overseas ATM fees any more either. The certainly don't charge to use other NZ ATM's.

$6 foreign ATM fee + 2.5% conversion at Kiwibank

They're really not competitive both most of their offerings, which is why they're basically unable to gain market share.

Thanks, I wasn't aware, I don't usually withdraw money direct like that often and almost never overseas.

Up until somewhat recently, they were cheaper for mortgages which given this is the biggest sum of money most people owe, means if they aren't competitive elsewhere it's usually irrelevant.

Recently, however, they are really not any cheaper than other places. They are a hassle to deal with because they aren't really a real bank in my opinion, but traditionally we stayed because we were saving significantly over the best rates either brokers or the other banks would offer us.

sbiddle

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#2412709 4-Feb-2020 21:26

DarkShadow:

sbiddle: For anybody who travels I see ANZ as a no brainer for the best bank - cheap(er) foreign conversion fees than many other banks and no foreign ATM fees.

Flight Center doesn't charge foreign conversion fees - I believe they are the only card on the market that doesn't.

They don't charge a "foreign conversion fee" but from what I've been told the rate used for the conversion is not as good as standard Visa and Mastercard transactions (which is converted at a rate at or close to the mid market). Without having a card it's not possible to know how their rates don't compare.

ANZ's effective rate is only around 0.5% with an Airpoints card (1.8% - 1.3% Airpoints rebate)

DarkShadow

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#2412847 5-Feb-2020 09:51

sbiddle:

DarkShadow:

sbiddle: For anybody who travels I see ANZ as a no brainer for the best bank - cheap(er) foreign conversion fees than many other banks and no foreign ATM fees.

Flight Center doesn't charge foreign conversion fees - I believe they are the only card on the market that doesn't.

They don't charge a "foreign conversion fee" but from what I've been told the rate used for the conversion is not as good as standard Visa and Mastercard transactions (which is converted at a rate at or close to the mid market). Without having a card it's not possible to know how their rates don't compare.

ANZ's effective rate is only around 0.5% with an Airpoints card (1.8% - 1.3% Airpoints rebate)

So here's some conversion rates from my Flight Center bill, MasterCard's currency exchange and XE's historical rates. They look pretty close to mid-market to me. Those historical rates are only reported once per day though so I'm not sure if the difference is due to FC taking a cut or just due to the fluctuations on the market that day. There's s also a 1% rebate on the FC card (only usable on FC products).

27 Jan USD
FC 1.5277
MC 1.5272
XE 1.5266

23 Jan HKD
FC 0.1955
MC 0.1955
XE 0.1954

23 Jan TWD
FC 0.0507
MC 0.0506
XE 0.0505

17 Dec RUB
FC 0.0244
MC 0.0244
XE 0.0244

13 Dec EUR
FC 1.7031
MC 1.7026
XE 1.6894

sbiddle

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#2412857 5-Feb-2020 10:12

DarkShadow:

sbiddle:

DarkShadow:

sbiddle: For anybody who travels I see ANZ as a no brainer for the best bank - cheap(er) foreign conversion fees than many other banks and no foreign ATM fees.

Flight Center doesn't charge foreign conversion fees - I believe they are the only card on the market that doesn't.

They don't charge a "foreign conversion fee" but from what I've been told the rate used for the conversion is not as good as standard Visa and Mastercard transactions (which is converted at a rate at or close to the mid market). Without having a card it's not possible to know how their rates don't compare.

ANZ's effective rate is only around 0.5% with an Airpoints card (1.8% - 1.3% Airpoints rebate)

So here's some conversion rates from my Flight Center bill, MasterCard's currency exchange and XE's historical rates. They look pretty close to mid-market to me. Those historical rates are only reported once per day though so I'm not sure if the difference is due to FC taking a cut or just due to the fluctuations on the market that day. There's s also a 1% rebate on the FC card (only usable on FC products).

27 Jan USD
FC 1.5277
MC 1.5272
XE 1.5266

23 Jan HKD
FC 0.1955
MC 0.1955
XE 0.1954

23 Jan TWD
FC 0.0507
MC 0.0506
XE 0.0505

17 Dec RUB
FC 0.0244
MC 0.0244
XE 0.0244

13 Dec EUR
FC 1.7031
MC 1.7026
XE 1.6894

That's pretty good! With no margin for them on foreign transactions I wonder how they can give the 1% rebate? They must be hoping lots of people use the card primarily for domestic spend (such as to buy that tickets from flight centre) to use the interchange from this for the rebate.

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mrdrifter

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#2412867 5-Feb-2020 10:27

I got the email from kiwibank this morning, probably time to consider changing providers just to see who might give me the best deal.

networkn

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#2412884 5-Feb-2020 10:42

Is there a reputable credit card comparison product around in NZ?

mrdrifter

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#2412892 5-Feb-2020 10:50

networkn:

Is there a reputable credit card comparison product around in NZ?

Not that I've ever found, providers seem much more competitive overseas where population density probably helps with providing better enticements/points/rewards etc...

Handsomedan

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#2412937 5-Feb-2020 11:42

networkn:

Is there a reputable credit card comparison product around in NZ?

https://www.creditcardscompare.co.nz/credit-card-finder/

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