KEY POINTS:
New Zealand bank customers pay higher fees on personal accounts than those in the United Kingdom and Canada, according to a new study.
The Fujitsu Consulting study shows New Zealanders pay an average of $111 a year for transactions on day-to-day personal accounts
This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.
Reece
I have had a pretty good experience with my current bank (ASB) who looked after me with an interest free overdraft while I was studying to be a teacher at Auckland uni. I now have a moderate overdraft (still interest free) which attracts a service fee of two dollars a month. Other than that I pay no fees on my account, no transaction fees, no monthly account service fee either. My internet banking is done seamlessly, although there is a slight delay in processing payments to other banks (48hrs max) where I would assume the bank does the interest bearing holding account trick they used to do with cheque clearing. Seeing as its money going out I don't really worry about it. The only charges there are to set up payments, once set up there are no transaction fees at all. It's called a streamline account and before I start to sound like some kind of dodgy advert it's worth taking a look. Or you could be lazy, do no research, and end up paying lots of fees, which I think is the case for most complaining here.
Nilda S Hidalgo-Batzes
Not only in New Zealand, even here in the Middle East Kingdom of Bahrain. I had a personal loan in Citibank Bahrain and got the loan not thinking about the consequence as their sales representative was very convincing for me to get the loan. Yes, I've got the loan but the interest was enormous at 28 per cent plus hidden cost so I was flaggerbasted because I am paying 1/3 interest on the principal amount that I've taken. Another set back was when their computer system was down, so many people are on cue to pay their loans and deposits in the bank then the cashiers do not want to receive the money because the system was down. They literally asked the people to go out of the bank or use the ATM to pay, but since the system was down, the ATM did not work, too. My contention was during old days when the computer is not in operation, the bank cashiers received your money and stamped the receipt, not them, I tell you. A lot of customers just left fuming and I bet they will never use Citibank again. I myself will not used them, when I've finished paying my personal loan.
Sonia
I think banks need to be a lot more upfront about various fees and costs when a customer is starting a new account. In my experience, they are much more interested in taking my money than customer satisfaction and making sure the terms and conditions are properly understood. An example from my own experience was through setting up my second bank account for savings with ASB. I had deposited a considerable amount of money into this account and the need suddenly arose to transfer some money to my spending account. I was horrified when I received my monthly statement to discover I had been charged $45 "withdrawal disincentive", I had never even heard of this term before and it was certainly not explained to me when I set up the account (I was only 17 at the time). A call to the bank resulted in no refund, not even an apology for the mis-communication. Problems like this could be avoided with a bit of simple communication and decent customer service.
NeillR
Banks are such an easy target, but your report was a bit wide of the mark this time. Perhaps more prominence should have been given to the comparison with Australia, who own all our major banks anyway. Our fees are lower than Australia's, so I would say we're probably not paying too much - though any reduction is always welcome, and with the increases in technology in the last decade, we should be paying considerably less.
WHS
I have had a UK current account for 30 years and never paid any fees whatsoever. And UK credit cards have no six monthly or 12 monthly fees.
The Banks treat NZers as gullible fools (and we must be as we keep paying). Pity consumer is not more effective - sad to listen to their pitiable protests about charges.
Steven Rymell
I question the comments made by Kiwibank about UK customers being happy to pay for banking services. In the UK my personal current and Credit card accounts are with Nationwide Building society and I pay NO fees for running my accounts, that includes no overseas facilty fees for using my accounts outside of the UK (including NZ). This has saved me and my relatives (who have moved their accounts to Nationwide) a small fortune when travelling the world. Anyone doing their OE or touring in the UK and intending to travel around Europe should consider the Nationwide Building society in order to save money on currency fees.
Peter
Banks in this country make Ali Baba and his 40 thieves look like a bunch of rank amateurs.
Marcus
I think people forget that banks are businesses. And businesses need to make money to survive. Canadian banks may charge slightly less but then it takes 6-12 weeks to get a mortgage when you can get one in 24 hours here. The cost of that technology needs to be recouped somehow doesn't it? And if you aren't happy with your bank - change it! Or keep your money under your bed and pay no fees...
Anna
Two weeks ago I placed an order to get my groceries delivered via Foodtown/Woolworths, the amount was placed on hold on my credit card until the goods were delivered and then the actual transaction to deduct the amount was actioned. I am still waiting for the amount placed on hold to be lifted, despite calling my bank and Foodtown to request this. Foodtown told me to call the bank and the bank told me I had to call Foodtown... the bank then told me that the hold would be lifted after 10 working days! Insane!
John W
I'm more interested in holding our so-called "ethical" banks accountable for *where* they invest our dollars. Arms manufacturing? You would be surprised what you find when you have a dig around.
Murray Hahn
I changed from Westpac to Kiwibank a couple of years ago. The result better service and greatly reduced fees. My major complaint is the cost of using an ATM overseas which charges not only $6 to withdraw money, but also a fee to change currencies. I guess we would all like to have a couple of bites at the cherry.
Ray Gilbert
Bank fees can be minimised by some simple means. Use cash instead of eftpos for small transactions. Wherever possible, use a credit card instead of eftpos but make sure you pay it off in full each month. If you need to borrow, don't do it on your credit card - it is way too expensive - get an overdraft instead. Pick a credit card with a good rewards scheme - it will more than pay for itself as long as you redeem the points for things that you would buy anyway such as petrol vouchers. Shop around for banks and use the one that gives you the best deal - you shop around for other services so why not your bank?
Nicholas Alexander
Tip of the iceberg. Banks charge far too many incidental and penalty fees while enjoying the luxury of our money languishing in low or no interest bearing current accounts, they charge "honour" and "dishonour" fees on other accounts when payments can not be met. The credit cards with their complex interest charged on interest from the moment of borrowing cash are sucking lifeblood out of our savings. These small print contracts to penalise customers are a form of cartel gradually transferring microeconomic growth overseas. A code of decency is required. For example, dishonour fees should be cost recovery and no more than the actual cost. While banks build new headquarters they aggressively penalise customers. Is this how it should be?
Heather
It is utter greed that the major banks in NZ are charging New Zealanders more to use a bank account compared to banks in the UK. I have lived in the UK and currently live in Australia and have chosen my banks carefully where I do not incur fees. The same bank operates in New Zealand, however the only branches are in Auckland, and you must have $7,000 to open an account (you don't have to maintain this balance once opened). If you want to give the top 4 banks a serve, consider switching to HSBC.
E Sunil
Most banks now offer monthly flat fee account, for example, I am with ANZ $5.00 per month, for almost all type of transactions including internet banking etc. The fees we pay depends on what type of account we choose and what kind of "banking/payment" habit we have. Choose the right type of account and we pay less.
J.T
As a bank worker, there have been times where I've thought the fees are a bit rough, but most of the time, particularly with the all you can transact type accounts you have now, customers get a pretty good deal really.
Karen
Service - what service! We took out a second home loan with Westpac 4 years ago and the problems have never stopped. While we pay for good service the reality is quite different. We owned 2 houses in different cities and all we asked was that the each houses banking correspondence go to each city and the houses treated separately (my husband owed a house prior to our relationship). In 4 years Westpac couldnt get it right. They take it upon themselves to change mailing addresses. They cut off my own access to the account where my own wages were going into. On the day they drew down the loan they 'forgot' to give us account numbers or access to our accounts. The mistakes Westpac have made number over 15 and when asked for explanatons we get told 'computer error' or some other rubbish. I want to know what right Westpac have to charge such a high admin fee and title search fee when transacting a home loan. I asked for a breakdown and when provided with one was shocked to see Westpac 'allocated' $15 to searching a title when it costs $2 using the Land on Line facility. We ended up dealing with someone who told me no such breakdown ever existed and yet we were given one by a staff member. One of our fixed mortgages got refixed at substantially higher repayments (Westpac error) just as we had a baby and dropped to one income. He told us he didnt see why it would have caused us any stress and dismissed our reaction as ridiculous. Westpac are the most useless bank I have ever dealt with. We are now repaying our mortgage at top speed just so we can move banks easily and never have to deal with them again!
Matthew Worsley
This is a very interesting matter for me. I moved from the UK to New Zealand at the end of last year (I am a NZ citizen) and was shocked by the level of banking fees in place, in particular internet banking. I find it baffling that there are any charges for internet banking at all. I hold a bank account in England for which there is also an internet banking service. There are no charges for any internet processes whatsoever, everything is automated. How and more so, why is it different over here in New Zealand? Indeed, there are zero charges if I go into a UK bank and have staff assistance for day to day services such as setting up standing orders, changing payments on my account etc. $5 to set up a payment online? $3.50 for amending payments online? This really defeats the object of internet banking. It should be free, and is, in many parts of the rest of the modern world. Maintenance costs are covered by the expenditure saved by the reduced human traffic into banks to request these same services.
I should be able to log on, make a payment and the only money to leave my account be that of the transaction itself, not charged a $5 "service fee" for example. Other countries seem to be able to follow this rule, why not here? Currently I am banking with BNZ.
Merlin
I moved to NZ some 20 months ago and I was astonished at banking here. I have had free banking in the UK for so long now I can't even remember when it started. (So long as you were in credit of course). In fact I even had free banking on my business account as well. Also transactions were immediate or at least that day, no 3 day clearing and so long as you had the funds you could withdraw any amount from the cash machines. When I set up my first account with BNZ I was very surprised to see a monthly charge. Then when I questioned it the response I had was all too familiar. "It's policy", or "That's what it costs". Err, No! I changed my account to Kiwibank who offer free banking for accounts with a credit of 4k. (4K! That's way too high but at least it's a start). On closing my account with BNZ they couldn't even be bothered to ask why I was closing the account! Customer service? Vote with your money; take it to the banks that offer the best deal and soon the dinosaurs of the other banks will realise. It's the customer that's king not them.
Marguerite Keir
Obviously I use the right bank. ASB told me how I could save on fees and of the four accounts I hold, two earn 7 per cent on very small amounts, one is everyday and the other a credit card. I don't pay any fees on the first three; using internet banking pays off. I've always had good service from ASB.
Mike Osborne
The trading banks make over $2bn profit annually. That's $500 for every New Zealander every year to Australia for services we could provide ourselves.
Mark
I live in the UK and I don't pay any bank fees at all because I am try to stay in credit. In fact my last bank charged to have an overdraft so we switched to one that doesn't. I also get free cash withdrawals when abroad.
