Choosing a personal bank in New Zealand
I’ve been banking in New Zealand since 2010, when I opened an account with ASB. Our immigration advisor recommended this as a safe, stable choice. However, many years later, I realised I wanted to dig into it and make a more informed choice.
There are numerous highly detailed articles on how to choose a bank in New Zealand, but I thought I’d provide a hopefully visual and straightforward guide. Look for the factors you care about to see which banks meet them or don’t qualify. Note that BoosterSavvy isn't technically a bank, but I included it as it does provide some bank-like services.
You want to support a Kiwi-owned bank:
You need ApplePay:
You don’t want a bank that loans to the fossil fuel industry:
You need direct debits or international money transfers:
You want to bank with a B-corp:
You want a bank that is recognised for high customer satisfaction:
You want a bank with a mobile app that's rated the best:
You want a bank with consistently the highest interest rate on an unlimited withdrawal account:
You want a bank that is customer-owned:
You want a bank that shares profits with customers:
I can’t speak for everyone, but when discussions about which banks to choose come up, I most often hear that people want:
Kiwi-owned bank
ApplePay
Earn competitive rates on savings
Good for digital-only banking
Banks that are less driven by maximising corporate profits
Direct debits are important
That leaves only one bank that meets all the criteria:
And two banks that meet almost all the criteria:
From speaking to The Cooperative Bank, they are working to support Apple Pay, so if that comes to pass, that makes them a top choice.
From an article about Booster Savvy, there is a claim that they are working on adding direct debit functionality. If that’s unimportant, Booster Savvy may be your top choice. See the article linked above for some other interesting features unique to their offerings.