Looking for a new bank

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

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#606286 6-Apr-2012 22:40

TSB Bank, excellent service, their online banking service is good, no fees for using other banks ATM's, plus it's New Zealand owned.

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kiwigander

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#606300 7-Apr-2012 00:34

If you've got easy access to SBS then I recommend them highly. Excellent personal service in the branch and through the call centre. (The call centre is in Invercargill, they speak proper Kiwi English and they're very friendly.) Their online banking is a bit clunky but it works.

I deal with Kiwibank for business banking; overall they're not bad, but with respect to communications they occasionally drop the ball.

CamH

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#607035 9-Apr-2012 13:21

I would definitely have to recommend ASB. Have both business accounts and personal accounts with them and have had no major issues. Branch staff are always very helpful and will often refund fees (such as counter transactions on my business account). Love the fact that they have ATM's everywhere and their internet and mobile banking is amazing. No matter where I am I can move money around, pay people etc.

Would have to recommend against Kiwibank however. Cashing international cheques take months, there's always a 10-15 minute wait in the post shop if you need to talk to someone (unless your there at 8:30AM on the dot), the staff don't seem very interested in you half the time and their internet banking is slow and has frequent downtimes, plus a major lack of banking for mobile devices. Plus, my ATM cards were eaten by their ATM's multiple times and I was charged to get a new one each time, even though the problem was at the ATM, it was "out of their control".

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#607045 9-Apr-2012 14:02

Technofreak: TSB Bank, excellent service, their online banking service is good, no fees for using other banks ATM's, plus it's New Zealand owned.

One reason TSB is good I think is because I think it is all manged in house, so I don't think they sub contract out their call centre. So you are actually speaking to their own staff. I have never had a problem when phoning them, and they are rated the top bank in NZ most years.

kiwi_64

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#611231 18-Apr-2012 16:08

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

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.

I note the new version of the bnz mobile banking app (Android and I assume, iPhone) released today (?) now allows the option of doing away with the NetGuard card ... great!

freitasm

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#611242 18-Apr-2012 16:14

Correct. I was in the press/media conference call this morning. Basically you install the app (iPhone and Android), "pair" the app with your account by entering some of the Netguard card codes and from then on you only need your password. If you get a new device you can deauthorise the previous one and authorise the new one - only one device/app can be "Netguard enabled" at a time.

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#611299 18-Apr-2012 17:23

Actually, just posted about the new BNZ mobile app.

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newbellies

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#616832 29-Apr-2012 06:21

I've recently just discovered offsetting, for your homeloans. This would hugely reduce my interest payments.

http://www.consumer.org.nz/reports/offset-mortgages

Unfortunately, I bank with ASB and they don't appear to offer this. So I'm going to need to switch banks. Do you know if your favourite banks offer offsetting? It sounds like at least Kiwibank and BNZ do.

Cheers.

Globolt

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#617096 29-Apr-2012 20:41

I'm with national and they do offset mortgages.

AKLWestie

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#617118 29-Apr-2012 21:06

newbellies: I've recently just discovered offsetting, for your homeloans. This would hugely reduce my interest payments.

http://www.consumer.org.nz/reports/offset-mortgages

Unfortunately, I bank with ASB and they don't appear to offer this. So I'm going to need to switch banks. Do you know if your favourite banks offer offsetting? It sounds like at least Kiwibank and BNZ do.

Cheers.

Kiwibank's offset mortgate and BNZ's total money combine the total balances of your accounts to calculate the interest you need to pay. ASB has something similar called Orbit. Think about Orbit is a big over draft facility which you use your property as a security.

The only difference is that ASB does not tally up all of your accounts' balance to calculate the balance. However, the interest of your Orbit account is calculated based on how big is your outstanding loan/over draft balance is.

So I think Orbit is basically the same as Kiwibank's offset mortgage.

May be you can talk to your ASB's personal banker about Oribt, then you don't need to change banks

John2010

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#617171 29-Apr-2012 23:13

AKLWestie:...The only difference is that ASB does not tally up all of your accounts' balance to calculate the balance. However, the interest of your Orbit account is calculated based on how big is your outstanding loan/over draft balance is...

Yes there are good alternatives to offset and they have been around for years. The other important difference is that the likes of Orbit, Flexiplus (ANZ), etc the savings you put into the account actually pays down the principal whereas with the offset mortgages that does not happen, with them there is only an interest offset. With Orbit, Flexiplus, etc although the principal is paid down you can draw on the mortgage at one's own discretion so one can at any time draw the principal out to the original maximum again, so are totally flexible and can put every spare cent into knocking the principal down in good times without the risk of being cashless if hit by some adverse financial circumstance such as job loss, etc.

The offset mortgage offerers talk about ending up paying the mortgage off quicker but that is only by use of the interest savings, should you end up saving those, to repay the remaining principal early when those savings become big enough to do so. An "interesting" concept given that hardly any mortgages run full term as the average time of ownership of a home is far, far less than the average term of a mortgage and the annual interest gain from an offset is not great (and for some may be a loss) and so only has much merit if one sticks with the mortgage for many years.

Am not knocking offset mortgages but just saying that they are not necessarily the wonderful thing that the bank's marketing may claim. Which approach is best will depend on ones financial situation, income and risk to that, other investment opportunities, interest rates and charges (or up front cash incentives) and the preferred treatment ones bank may give you for those, tax, etc. and so best to think it through or take advice.

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bazzer

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#617194 30-Apr-2012 02:37

I really couldn't see any functional difference between the offset mortgages and a revolving credit mortgage. While you are right that it doesn't automatically pay off the principal, there'd be nothing to stop you paying off the principal would there?

So, on one hand the extra money reduces the borrowing, on the other hand it increases the savings which are offset against the borrowing.

What confuses me is the Kiwibank have both revolving credit and offset. What's the difference, other than a preferential rate and the ability to offset multiple accounts?

John2010

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#617256 30-Apr-2012 09:42

bazzer: I really couldn't see any functional difference between the offset mortgages and a revolving credit mortgage. While you are right that it doesn't automatically pay off the principal, there'd be nothing to stop you paying off the principal would there?

No there would not be except that if one pays the lot off very early in which case there may be penalty payments. One can reduce an RC to zero (or even close it, last time I knew with our own bank) at anytime at no cost (but if the mortgage is deregistered, then like any mortgage arrangement there may be other costs in doing that).

But if one is in the position where one is able to and intend making lump payments against the principal then for most the best choice out of RC and offset is by far and away an RC arrangement. That for lots of obvious reasons and that I alluded to, most related to the fact with an offset you have tied up what were your savings into the mortgage.

Again, it all gets down to personal circumstances, both objective and subjective (subjective being the likes of propensity to save or invest, financial acumen, the bankers willlingness to trust one to manage an RC appropriately, etc). I suspect that offset will appear (but not necessarily be) more attractive to the likes of Kiwibank's customers (and less risk to the bank) than to the likes of the customers of a more wealth oriented bank and that may be why the big banks have not necessarily rushed into them??

bazzer

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#617272 30-Apr-2012 10:07

John2010:
bazzer: I really couldn't see any functional difference between the offset mortgages and a revolving credit mortgage. While you are right that it doesn't automatically pay off the principal, there'd be nothing to stop you paying off the principal would there?

No there would not be except that if one pays the lot off very early in which case there may be penalty payments. One can reduce an RC to zero (or even close it, last time I knew with our own bank) at anytime at no cost (but if the mortgage is deregistered, then like any mortgage arrangement there may be other costs in doing that).

But if one is in the position where one is able to and intend making lump payments against the principal then for most the best choice out of RC and offset is by far and away an RC arrangement. That for lots of obvious reasons and that I alluded to, most related to the fact with an offset you have tied up what were your savings into the mortgage.

Again, it all gets down to personal circumstances, both objective and subjective (subjective being the likes of propensity to save or invest, financial acumen, the bankers willlingness to trust one to manage an RC appropriately, etc). I suspect that offset will appear (but not necessarily be) more attractive to the likes of Kiwibank's customers (and less risk to the bank) than to the likes of the customers of a more wealth oriented bank and that may be why the big banks have not necessarily rushed into them??

What about the implications during bank failure? I would guess you could lose your savings, but still be up for the full amount of your loan?

John2010

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#617424 30-Apr-2012 13:33

bazzer:
What about the implications during bank failure? I would guess you could lose your savings, but still be up for the full amount of your loan?

Not sure what you mean by "full amount of your loan" but mentioning the following just in case you are meaning the original loan amount - in the RC case you would only be liable for the outstanding part of the principal, not the original loan amount.

So in the very remote case of bank failure then with an RC the savings that have been deposited in that are secure in that those have been credited aleady against the principal so reducing ones laibility to the bank. In the case of an offset mortgage, assuming no other guarantees (I assume there are none, but have not checked), as the savings are in another account and not used to reduce your liability (i.e. the bank is liable to you for them) I would assume they would be lost.

Opinion: Of the main banks in NZ I suspect the general view would be that Kiwibank is the one more likely to fail if there was ever to be a failure. It has never returned a dividend in the 10 years it has been in existance, has been dependant on Post and the Government for working capital (to the tune of approx half a billion dollars, the last 50 million from Post late last year) and Post is currently asking for help from the Government to stay viable. Also, the talk has it as having the lowest quality loan book.

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