Kiwibank takes 40 minutes to answer the phone: what's going on?

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Kiwibank takes 40 minutes to answer the phone: what's going on?

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#1754914 3-Apr-2017 17:28

dafman:

Their rates are competitive.

Not sure their savings rates are that competitive.Other banks which have higher credit ratings such as ASB, have savings rates as good, and better if you ask for a custom rate. IMO their rates need to better those banks with higher ratings, due to the higher risk with a lower credit rating.

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dafman

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#1754954 3-Apr-2017 18:57

mattwnz:

dafman:

Their rates are competitive.

Not sure their savings rates are that competitive.Other banks which have higher credit ratings such as ASB, have savings rates as good, and better if you ask for a custom rate. IMO their rates need to better those banks with higher ratings, due to the higher risk with a lower credit rating.

I put some money on term deposit last week. Of all the banks, Kiwibank had the best rate (200 days).

Yes, their credit rating is lower than the Aussie banks ... but remember Kiwibank are majority owned by the New Zealand Government. At the time of financial crisis, would you rather be in the hands of a majority-owned Government bank or left to the mercy of private shareholders of the others? Simply put, I personally cannot see the New Zealand government stiffing domestic investors irrespective of the bank's credit rating (personal opinion).

nitrotech

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#1754964 3-Apr-2017 19:48

Mspec:

My last call to them about 2 weeks ago now took 45 mins to answer, I had closed all my accounts with them but my credit cards were still showing and both attracted a 25 annual fee. The guy said there was a note there that they should have been closed but for some reason wasn't. He got the charges reversed then it took another 2 weeks for the accounts to close.

Had been with them for 15 years before I moved and all in all I had nothing but a good experience with them

For a bank they just don't seem to be very proactive, we're just in the process of changing banks and when I first contacted kiwibank about changing I got a very helpful person who told me about how easy it was to change and that the new bank will take care of everything including closing the old accounts, since then I asked via email about cost of fees for keeping the one account open for a period of time and again very helpful response but there's never been a 'what can we do to keep you as a customer?' and I'm a foundation customer of Kiwibank.

Like you no real issues but they haven't ever contacted me to ask if there was anything they can do to help. Obviously they have enough customers.

frednz

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#1755964 3-Apr-2017 20:23

dafman:

mattwnz:

dafman:

Their rates are competitive.

Not sure their savings rates are that competitive.Other banks which have higher credit ratings such as ASB, have savings rates as good, and better if you ask for a custom rate. IMO their rates need to better those banks with higher ratings, due to the higher risk with a lower credit rating.

I put some money on term deposit last week. Of all the banks, Kiwibank had the best rate (200 days).

Yes, their credit rating is lower than the Aussie banks ... but remember Kiwibank are majority owned by the New Zealand Government. At the time of financial crisis, would you rather be in the hands of a majority-owned Government bank or left to the mercy of private shareholders of the others? Simply put, I personally cannot see the New Zealand government stiffing domestic investors irrespective of the bank's credit rating (personal opinion).

I'm not sure that investors should automatically assume that the Government will bail out Kiwibank in the event of a financial crisis. I suppose it's quite likely, but wouldn't the Government be equally concerned about the plight of Kiwis if a major Australian bank, such as ANZ, was to fail? After all, in the event of a major financial crisis, NZ is only a small country, so hasn't the Government made it clear that it's under no obligation to bail out Kiwibank if it were to fail?

Fred

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#1756007 3-Apr-2017 21:51

I wouldn't rely on an automatic bail out or top-up. I'm not being cynical when I say that governments are often prepared to "stiff" voters when they consider it expedient. There are too many variables to be certain what they would do. We can hardly predict the economic and political situation three years in advance so how could we be certain about bailing out bank depositors.

On the topic of the original posts, we've tried to move to Kiwibank three years in a row. From our perspective, the staff have all been bad to deal with so we've walked away each time. Kiwibank has never followed up why we haven't gone any further with our applications so I assume they have more new business than they have time to deal with:

First year, we couldn't get our email questions answered as we were referred back to their website info which didn't have what we needed. They didn't even read our emails properly.

Second year, we phoned weeks before we wanted to shift our mortgage and other accounts as we were going on holiday with no Internet access. Told the rep our situation yet he sent us an email with a special offer just before we left the house to go on holiday and they expected us to complete the application and sign up by the day we were due home.

Third year, applied for a special deal which required 10 working days notice. We applied online 11 working days before the deal ended but the online application actually required eleven whole working days. Eventually they phoned us when I had my mobile phone turned off during a presentation I was giving. As I receive lots of phone queries I don't call them all back so I had no way of knowing they'd called as there was no text message either. So we emailed about the lack of contact and eventually arranged an approximate time to discuss the transfer on my home phone. The call never came.

frednz

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#1756128 4-Apr-2017 09:50

nitrotech:

Mspec:

My last call to them about 2 weeks ago now took 45 mins to answer, I had closed all my accounts with them but my credit cards were still showing and both attracted a 25 annual fee. The guy said there was a note there that they should have been closed but for some reason wasn't. He got the charges reversed then it took another 2 weeks for the accounts to close.

Had been with them for 15 years before I moved and all in all I had nothing but a good experience with them

For a bank they just don't seem to be very proactive, we're just in the process of changing banks and when I first contacted kiwibank about changing I got a very helpful person who told me about how easy it was to change and that the new bank will take care of everything including closing the old accounts, since then I asked via email about cost of fees for keeping the one account open for a period of time and again very helpful response but there's never been a 'what can we do to keep you as a customer?' and I'm a foundation customer of Kiwibank.

Like you no real issues but they haven't ever contacted me to ask if there was anything they can do to help. Obviously they have enough customers.

Yes, pretty much my experience too. I have sometimes pointed out that another bank has a more competitive term deposit interest rate and asked if they could match it. Their answer is a polite "no" we don't match rates offered by other banks, but if you would like to withdraw your funds so you can earn more interest, we will be happy to arrange this for you! The concept of client retention and rewarding long-standing customers doesn't seem to be taught at Kiwibank, I wonder why not?

jonathan18

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#1756151 4-Apr-2017 10:05

frednz:

Yes, pretty much my experience too. I have sometimes pointed out that another bank has a more competitive term deposit interest rate and asked if they could match it. Their answer is a polite "no" we don't match rates offered by other banks, but if you would like to withdraw your funds so you can earn more interest, we will be happy to arrange this for you! The concept of client retention and rewarding long-standing customers doesn't seem to be taught at Kiwibank, I wonder why not?

In my experience the results have been mixed. When the market's been highly competitive I've managed to negotiate some quite decent discounts over and above Kiwibank's best advertised mortgage rates. Yesterday, however, they weren't one bit interested in either considering knocking anything off the "special" of 4.79% for two years rate nor waiving the $175 restructure fee - both things they've done for me in the past.

I do agree with a comment earlier re Kiwibank's reluctance to embrace new technology - they've stated to me they have no plans to introduce smartphone-based credit card payment systems or move to provide instant credit card transactions (whereby the full detail of transactions shows up immediately in internet banking, as with BNZ and I assume some other banks). Both are things I'd like to be able to avail myself of, so am certainly contemplating moving our credit cards to another company.

Rikkitic

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#1756159 4-Apr-2017 10:16

As an older person with old-fashioned needs, I have always found Kiwibank to be a perfect fit with my requirements. They have always provided excellent service without the trendy, youth-obsessed BS you get from a lot of other places, and I am 100% satisfied with them. When I reached pension age, I closed out all my other accounts and went over to Kiwibank and was immediately impressed with the much better service I got, which in my experience has continued to this day. Just saying.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

BTR

1527 posts

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#1756176 4-Apr-2017 10:42

nitrotech:

For a bank they just don't seem to be very proactive, we're just in the process of changing banks and when I first contacted kiwibank about changing I got a very helpful person who told me about how easy it was to change and that the new bank will take care of everything including closing the old accounts, since then I asked via email about cost of fees for keeping the one account open for a period of time and again very helpful response but there's never been a 'what can we do to keep you as a customer?' and I'm a foundation customer of Kiwibank.

Like you no real issues but they haven't ever contacted me to ask if there was anything they can do to help. Obviously they have enough customers.

You are kidding right???? I was a Westpac customer since being a kid when it was then called Trustbank. Not ONCE did they ever contact me to ask am I happy with everything, banks do not do that just like your power, phone and insurance companies don't.

I left Westpac after being charged $6 to deposit $5k cash into my account after selling a car.

---

Blake R

www.btr.net.nz

frednz

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#1756191 4-Apr-2017 11:09

jonathan18:

frednz:

Yes, pretty much my experience too. I have sometimes pointed out that another bank has a more competitive term deposit interest rate and asked if they could match it. Their answer is a polite "no" we don't match rates offered by other banks, but if you would like to withdraw your funds so you can earn more interest, we will be happy to arrange this for you! The concept of client retention and rewarding long-standing customers doesn't seem to be taught at Kiwibank, I wonder why not?

In my experience the results have been mixed. When the market's been highly competitive I've managed to negotiate some quite decent discounts over and above Kiwibank's best advertised mortgage rates. Yesterday, however, they weren't one bit interested in either considering knocking anything off the "special" of 4.79% for two years rate nor waiving the $175 restructure fee - both things they've done for me in the past.

I have found that banks such as BNZ and ANZ are always ready to negotiate and meet the market and Kiwibank used to be like that also. But, in recent times, I have also found that Kiwibank seems to have adopted a "take it or leave it" approach without any regard to the amounts of money involved or how long you have been a customer. I suppose from their point of view this simplifies things, but I sometimes wonder whether they might lose valuable customers as a result of being rather inflexible?

dafman

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#1756237 4-Apr-2017 12:06

frednz:

jonathan18:

frednz:

Yes, pretty much my experience too. I have sometimes pointed out that another bank has a more competitive term deposit interest rate and asked if they could match it. Their answer is a polite "no" we don't match rates offered by other banks, but if you would like to withdraw your funds so you can earn more interest, we will be happy to arrange this for you! The concept of client retention and rewarding long-standing customers doesn't seem to be taught at Kiwibank, I wonder why not?

In my experience the results have been mixed. When the market's been highly competitive I've managed to negotiate some quite decent discounts over and above Kiwibank's best advertised mortgage rates. Yesterday, however, they weren't one bit interested in either considering knocking anything off the "special" of 4.79% for two years rate nor waiving the $175 restructure fee - both things they've done for me in the past.

I have found that banks such as BNZ and ANZ are always ready to negotiate and meet the market and Kiwibank used to be like that also. But, in recent times, I have also found that Kiwibank seems to have adopted a "take it or leave it" approach without any regard to the amounts of money involved or how long you have been a customer. I suppose from their point of view this simplifies things, but I sometimes wonder whether they might lose valuable customers as a result of being rather inflexible?

I think you must be dealing with another Kiwibank, or perhaps are in a parallel universe. I've great service and flexibility from Kiwibank recently. Not saying you haven't had bad service, just saying I have had the opposite - which shows Kiwibank are probably no different to any other bank when it comes to customer experience.

frednz

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#1756293 4-Apr-2017 13:23

dafman:

frednz:

jonathan18:

frednz:

Yes, pretty much my experience too. I have sometimes pointed out that another bank has a more competitive term deposit interest rate and asked if they could match it. Their answer is a polite "no" we don't match rates offered by other banks, but if you would like to withdraw your funds so you can earn more interest, we will be happy to arrange this for you! The concept of client retention and rewarding long-standing customers doesn't seem to be taught at Kiwibank, I wonder why not?

In my experience the results have been mixed. When the market's been highly competitive I've managed to negotiate some quite decent discounts over and above Kiwibank's best advertised mortgage rates. Yesterday, however, they weren't one bit interested in either considering knocking anything off the "special" of 4.79% for two years rate nor waiving the $175 restructure fee - both things they've done for me in the past.

I have found that banks such as BNZ and ANZ are always ready to negotiate and meet the market and Kiwibank used to be like that also. But, in recent times, I have also found that Kiwibank seems to have adopted a "take it or leave it" approach without any regard to the amounts of money involved or how long you have been a customer. I suppose from their point of view this simplifies things, but I sometimes wonder whether they might lose valuable customers as a result of being rather inflexible?

I think you must be dealing with another Kiwibank, or perhaps are in a parallel universe. I've great service and flexibility from Kiwibank recently. Not saying you haven't had bad service, just saying I have had the opposite - which shows Kiwibank are probably no different to any other bank when it comes to customer experience.

I'm not sure I'm in a parallel universe, but if you can tell me where your universe is located I'll gladly shift to it. No doubt Kiwibank doesn't keep people waiting nearly an hour to answer the phone in your universe and I guess it's always sunny where you are as well?

Now one thing that Kiwibank is often very inflexible about is the payment of interest on term deposits. If you want interest paid monthly, you have to accept a lesser rate than if the interest is paid in one go at maturity. Fair enough perhaps, BUT often, to match the interest rate that is paid monthly by, say, ANZ, you have to accept interest paid at maturity by Kiwibank.

A current example for a term deposit over $10,000 for 2 years is 3.9% from ANZ with monthly interest, but 3.75% from Kiwibank if you want monthly interest or 3.85% with interest at maturity. Provided that you don't compare Kiwibank's interest rates on term investments with those paid by other banks you will always be happy, even in my universe!

It's not so much that I think the service from Kiwibank is bad (except for recent long delays in answering the phone) it's more that they can be very inflexible at times!

dafman

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#1756325 4-Apr-2017 13:51

frednz:

dafman:

frednz:

jonathan18:

frednz:

Yes, pretty much my experience too. I have sometimes pointed out that another bank has a more competitive term deposit interest rate and asked if they could match it. Their answer is a polite "no" we don't match rates offered by other banks, but if you would like to withdraw your funds so you can earn more interest, we will be happy to arrange this for you! The concept of client retention and rewarding long-standing customers doesn't seem to be taught at Kiwibank, I wonder why not?

In my experience the results have been mixed. When the market's been highly competitive I've managed to negotiate some quite decent discounts over and above Kiwibank's best advertised mortgage rates. Yesterday, however, they weren't one bit interested in either considering knocking anything off the "special" of 4.79% for two years rate nor waiving the $175 restructure fee - both things they've done for me in the past.

I have found that banks such as BNZ and ANZ are always ready to negotiate and meet the market and Kiwibank used to be like that also. But, in recent times, I have also found that Kiwibank seems to have adopted a "take it or leave it" approach without any regard to the amounts of money involved or how long you have been a customer. I suppose from their point of view this simplifies things, but I sometimes wonder whether they might lose valuable customers as a result of being rather inflexible?

I think you must be dealing with another Kiwibank, or perhaps are in a parallel universe. I've great service and flexibility from Kiwibank recently. Not saying you haven't had bad service, just saying I have had the opposite - which shows Kiwibank are probably no different to any other bank when it comes to customer experience.

I'm not sure I'm in a parallel universe, but if you can tell me where your universe is located I'll gladly shift to it. No doubt Kiwibank doesn't keep people waiting nearly an hour to answer the phone in your universe and I guess it's always sunny where you are as well?

Now one thing that Kiwibank is often very inflexible about is the payment of interest on term deposits. If you want interest paid monthly, you have to accept a lesser rate than if the interest is paid in one go at maturity. Fair enough perhaps, BUT often, to match the interest rate that is paid monthly by, say, ANZ, you have to accept interest paid at maturity by Kiwibank.

A current example for a term deposit over $10,000 for 2 years is 3.9% from ANZ with monthly interest, but 3.75% from Kiwibank if you want monthly interest or 3.85% with interest at maturity. Provided that you don't compare Kiwibank's interest rates on term investments with those paid by other banks you will always be happy, even in my universe!

It's not so much that I think the service from Kiwibank is bad (except for recent long delays in answering the phone) it's more that they can be very inflexible at times!

I invested in a Kiwibank 200 day term deposit this week at 3.70% - that is the best rate in the market for that term. Each bank will differ, depending on how much they require funding for a particular term. It clearly pays to shop around - sometimes Kiwibank may not be as competitive (as in your case), other times they will offer the best rate (as in mine).

networkn

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#1756337 4-Apr-2017 14:06

Our experience with Kiwibank is generally awful. We are also a foundation customer. Borrowing money is a nightmare, despite all our incomes going into Kiwibank accounts, having never missed a payment, and having healthy incomes. The hoops we have to jump through are truly awful. Our debt to equity ratio is excellent. They aren't really a real bank, and there are just so many flaws in the way they operate. We are there for the cheapest rates and for the fact switching would cost a lot (trusts and lawyers fees etc). They have also taken to recently suggesting we can't borrow money unless we have no accounts anywhere else (including credit cards).

I wouldn't recommend them to anyone, unless price is the primary objective (which it is for my wife). Being self-employed (For 18 years!) is a serious crime in their books.

They used to be awesome. They used to just say yes to everything, nothing was too much trouble. Now they say no to everything and you pretty much have to threaten or beg for a result.

To be fair though, for most banks, it's a lot who you deal with.

We would switch in a heart beat if we could come out of it closeish to cost neutral.

frednz

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#1756387 4-Apr-2017 15:26

dafman:

I invested in a Kiwibank 200 day term deposit this week at 3.70% - that is the best rate in the market for that term. Each bank will differ, depending on how much they require funding for a particular term. It clearly pays to shop around - sometimes Kiwibank may not be as competitive (as in your case), other times they will offer the best rate (as in mine).

If Kiwibank offers the best rate, the larger banks such as ANZ and BNZ don't hesitate to match or better it.

On the other hand, if ANZ and BNZ offer the best rate, Kiwibank just won't match it, no matter how much money you have with them or how long you've been banking with them.

Two or three years ago, Kiwibank would match the rates offered by other banks, but now, even if you go to Team Leaders they won't budge, not even if you say you'll move your vast fortune into another bank! And if you do say that, they sound genuinely pleased that you can get a better rate elsewhere and tell you to "go for it".

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