Looking for a new bank

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

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20141 posts

Uber Geek

#617433 30-Apr-2012 13:59

Has anyone tried the TSB mobile tap to pay app, that they are extensively advertising, to see how good it is compared to other banks apps? I would but my device doesn't have IOS5, and it only works on IOS5.
Personally I find the National Bank app pretty good.

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

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#617475 30-Apr-2012 15:08

John2010: 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.

Yep, I think you got what I was getting at. The point is that the offset is less "safe" than revolving credit from this point of view. If, as you say, Kiwibank is more likely to fail, this is pretty important. I'm not sure I agree with you, the Aussie banks have deep pockets, but so does Kiwibank! ;)

newbellies

159 posts

Master Geek

#617829 1-May-2012 10:09

ASB allows you to trade stocks on US exchange through them. Does your favourite bank allow this?

I called around to many different banks to find out if any of them offered offsetting your mortgage with funds that are in foreign currency accounts (with the same bank). Can't say I was surprised, but none of them did. I'm officially no longer interested in offsetting. :-)

If you happen to have foreign currency which you don't want to switch back to NZD right now and you have a mortgage, the best answer might be to invest that foreign currency in index funds, which would almost certainly give you a better return than the mortgage interest rate.

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#617892 1-May-2012 13:02

newbellies: ASB allows you to trade stocks on US exchange through them. Does your favourite bank allow this?

I called around to many different banks to find out if any of them offered offsetting your mortgage with funds that are in foreign currency accounts (with the same bank). Can't say I was surprised, but none of them did. I'm officially no longer interested in offsetting. :-)

If you happen to have foreign currency which you don't want to switch back to NZD right now and you have a mortgage, the best answer might be to invest that foreign currency in index funds, which would almost certainly give you a better return than the mortgage interest rate.

A good enough return to reward for the currency risk? Otherwise, it seems like you're suggesting I borrow against my house to invest in index funds...

newbellies

159 posts

Master Geek

#617894 1-May-2012 13:11

bazzer:

If you happen to have foreign currency which you don't want to switch back to NZD right now and you have a mortgage, the best answer might be to invest that foreign currency in index funds, which would almost certainly give you a better return than the mortgage interest rate.

A good enough return to reward for the currency risk? Otherwise, it seems like you're suggesting I borrow against my house to invest in index funds...

Per above, if you have money already in foreign currency. Do you think NZD is headed much higher? I personally don't, which is why I don't want to convert at all right now. Nobody knows for sure though.

I'm not suggesting borrowing against your house, in any scenario.

Tockly

346 posts

Ultimate Geek

#617907 1-May-2012 13:33

During the recent non payment of wages I couldn't have been more satisfied with the level of service and support I received from the BNZ.

When the first one hit I was out of town and was expecting my pay to come in and had left myself nothing, yeah I know better budgeting, but after one very quick call to the BNZ Call Centre the very helpful lady knew about the issue and arranged a free temporary OD to help me out.

And with the second one I tweeted about it and got a very abrupt response back from Westpac to the point of being rude. Then @BNZBank replied and couldn't have been nicer. Goes along way to keeping your customers happy.

As for their new iPhone app. Lovin it to the point I hardly even use Internet banking anymore.

BTW has Kiwibank fixed their process of doing Debits before Credits? I had to change all of my AP's as they tried to process them before my pay had gone in and then charged my $100 ($20 each one) for the pleasure. Every other bank processes Credits first.

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#618281 2-May-2012 11:56

newbellies:
bazzer:

If you happen to have foreign currency which you don't want to switch back to NZD right now and you have a mortgage, the best answer might be to invest that foreign currency in index funds, which would almost certainly give you a better return than the mortgage interest rate.

A good enough return to reward for the currency risk? Otherwise, it seems like you're suggesting I borrow against my house to invest in index funds...

Per above, if you have money already in foreign currency. Do you think NZD is headed much higher? I personally don't, which is why I don't want to convert at all right now. Nobody knows for sure though.

I'm not suggesting borrowing against your house, in any scenario.

It's implied. If it's better not to pay your mortgage and instead invest foreign currency in index funds, isn't it better to invest foreign currency in index funds by extending your mortgage?

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surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#618290 2-May-2012 12:17

johnr: I switched to kiwi bank and the best thing I did was leave my ASB account open, I gave kiwi bank a good run but it was just nothing like ASB, I might pay a little more in fees but it's worth it

ASB internet banking is world class!

The best bank I have been with ever, is HSBC Offshore. They beat ASB hands down.

HSBC UK were also very good.

ASB used to be world class, but, they have stopped innovating about 10 years ago.

newbellies

159 posts

Master Geek

#618295 2-May-2012 12:26

bazzer:
newbellies:
bazzer:

If you happen to have foreign currency which you don't want to switch back to NZD right now and you have a mortgage, the best answer might be to invest that foreign currency in index funds, which would almost certainly give you a better return than the mortgage interest rate.

A good enough return to reward for the currency risk? Otherwise, it seems like you're suggesting I borrow against my house to invest in index funds...

Per above, if you have money already in foreign currency. Do you think NZD is headed much higher? I personally don't, which is why I don't want to convert at all right now. Nobody knows for sure though.

I'm not suggesting borrowing against your house, in any scenario.

It's implied. If it's better not to pay your mortgage and instead invest foreign currency in index funds, isn't it better to invest foreign currency in index funds by extending your mortgage?

"If you happen to have foreign currency which you don't want to switch back to NZD right now."

Investing foreign currency does not equal borrowing against your house. Much like you buying a subway sandwich doesn't equal you borrowing against your house.

Bee

732 posts

Ultimate Geek

#618315 2-May-2012 12:52

Tockly:

BTW has Kiwibank fixed their process of doing Debits before Credits? I had to change all of my AP's as they tried to process them before my pay had gone in and then charged my $100 ($20 each one) for the pleasure. Every other bank processes Credits first.

No. Westpac does this too! I asked one of the staff there and they said things just get processed in time order that they come in, so what typically happens is all your bills try to go out but fail AND THEN your pay comes in!

Kiwibank will sometimes try all payments the next day before dishonoring them but this is a bit of a silly workaround IMHO.

National bank always processes all deposits first!

Does anyone know what ASB does in their processing?

Doing your best is much more important than being the best.

cisconz

cisconz
1341 posts

Uber Geek

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#618360 2-May-2012 14:21

I still don't understand how this works. Think of this as an example.
Person A pays Person B
Person B pays Person C
Person C pays Person A

If all 3 backs process Debits first how does this senario work?

Hmmmm

bazzer

3438 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#618448 2-May-2012 16:55

newbellies: "If you happen to have foreign currency which you don't want to switch back to NZD right now."

Investing foreign currency does not equal borrowing against your house. Much like you buying a subway sandwich doesn't equal you borrowing against your house.

Sure it does, if the alternative to not buying the subway sandwich means your mortgage reduces (e.g. revolving credit).

It's not that hard to figure out:
You - $110K mortgage, $10K forex
Me - $100K mortgage
Net value is the same, right?

Rather than pay the $10K off your mortgage, you said you might be better off investing it in index funds. If that's the case, why am I not better off borrowing an extra $10k against my house and buying foreign currency and doing the same? I know you prefaced it with some caveats, but I don't see what difference it makes if I have it already, or if I buy it now...

newbellies

159 posts

Master Geek

#618455 2-May-2012 17:13

bazzer:
newbellies: "If you happen to have foreign currency which you don't want to switch back to NZD right now."

Investing foreign currency does not equal borrowing against your house. Much like you buying a subway sandwich doesn't equal you borrowing against your house.

Sure it does, if the alternative to not buying the subway sandwich means your mortgage reduces (e.g. revolving credit).

It's not that hard to figure out:
You - $110K mortgage, $10K forex
Me - $100K mortgage
Net value is the same, right?

Rather than pay the $10K off your mortgage, you said you might be better off investing it in index funds. If that's the case, why am I not better off borrowing an extra $10k against my house and buying foreign currency and doing the same? I know you prefaced it with some caveats, but I don't see what difference it makes if I have it already, or if I buy it now...

If you're aware of a bank that will allow you to count your foreign funds held with them as part of your revolving credit, I'd love to hear. I have not yet encountered one that does. Same with offsetting mortgages.

There's a big difference if you buy foreign currency, or already have it. I wish I had all NZD right now, but there's no way I'm going to convert to it as the NZD is widely considered to be way overvalued. That was the whole point of my post.

Laworder

40 posts

Geek

#618662 3-May-2012 01:41

I used to bank with ANZ.

Never again. What a nightmare. I used to call them the "Yes we can f*** it up for you bank" because that's what they did. Credit cards sent to the wrong address, mortgage payments taken out of the wrong account, etc etc

I put up with it for years, then moved to Westpac about 6 years ago as they gave me a loan on a property that ANZ wouldnt. Never looked back - a little while after I started with them I set aside half a day to do something that would have taken that long to do at ANZ. Walked into my local branch, walked out 15 minutes later all done and completed. Had the rest of the afternoon free.

Have had almost flawless service from Westpac myself, but your mileage may vary

Regards
Peter

newbellies

159 posts

Master Geek

#618676 3-May-2012 06:32

Anybody have love or war stories with HSBC? I keep forgetting that they are here in NZ.

Was really surprised to read this: "HSBC also offers home loans in Foreign Currencies for the purchase of a residential property in New Zealand"

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