Money

Current Deals:
Black Friday Sales – Save up to 70% on your Christmas Presents

 

Compare Zero Monthly Fee Transaction Accounts

There’s no need to be paying monthly fees on your bank account any more.

Usually you have to stop receiving your paper statements to get these accounts and get your statements online or via email.
Most require you to do most of your transactions ONLINE / ELECTRONICALLY to avoid fees (KiwiBank doesn’t charge for using their branch network).

Most don’t have a cheque book (Not suitable for those who need this but remember you can do an online payments

 

BEST Transaction Bank Deal in NZ:

KiwiBank Free up

Electronic Fees FREE

Manual transactions FREE Deposits & withdrawals in branch

ASB Streamline

No Monthly fee if you don’t get paper statements

Electronic fees FREE

Manual Transaction fees 80c

 

Westpac Electronic Account  

No Monthly fee

Electronic Transaction fees FREE

(EFTPOS, Westpac ATM transfers/withdrawals, automatic payments, direct debits / credits, bill payments, online and phone banking payments)

Manual Fees $2.50

(Cheques, ATM deposits, deposits and withdrawals at the branch)

 

ANZ Go Account

No monthly Fee

Electronic transactions FREE

Manual transaction fees $3

 

BNZ You Money Account

No monthly fees

No electronic transactions

 

Kiwibank seems to offer the best service as you can still use over the counter services as well and it’s Kiwi Owned!

 

Always check the terms & conditions before you change your account to make sure the fees are better than your own account

NOTE whenever you change your bank you need to set up new automatic payments etc. Each of these are often charged even if the account is free as they are deemed special fees and so will still be charged.


Bank Fees

Everyone hates bank fees so it’s worth knowing what each bank charges.

All are quoted in NZ$ unless stated otherwise.

NOTE:  These rates are can change at any time but gives you a guide to what they have charged in the past.

 

International Money Transfers – Foreign Exchange 

International money transfers vary on the rates and fees you are charged. We help you find the best rates and lowest fees. Find the cheapest ways to transfer money overseas here. Transfer to UK, US, India, China & many more.
Transferring with your bank involves fees plus very poor exchange rates which is where the banks make most of their money not on the fees.

Check out our deals below:

International Money Transfer

One of the best value ways to transfer money to your bank abroad is by using one of the foreign exchange online companies.

 

Why use them?

  1. They often have NO FEES for foreign exchange transfers (make sure you transfer the minimum amount for no fees).
  2. Some banks charge up to $35 in transfer fees and give worse foreign exchange rates.
  3. Their exchange rates are far better than the banks after comparing foreign exchange rates and bank fees.
  4. Sending money overseas can be expensive if you are using the major banks.

For example foreign exchange transfer can be a difference of over 5%!

 

How does it work?

It works by signing up online free for their service.

Logging in, seeing what exchange rate they offer. If the rate suits, you click to exchange. If not you can set up an alert to email you when it reaches the rate you want.

They call you to confirm the transfer.

You enter your foreign bank details online so they know which bank account to send the money (Make sure you get this right!).

They give you the bank details for their account in Australia. Once they have received the money for the trade they deposit the money in your foreign account within the next few days.

All in can take 15 minutes to save yourself 350 euros! Not bad.

Make sure the foreign exchange company is regulated.

So which foreign exchange company can I use?

 

Cheap International Money Transfers

Options for transferring over $10000 NZ Dollars

Currency Fair

Has the one of the best rates available for foreign exchange in New Zealand. Much better than the banks with much lower charges too. Compare the rates from what you can get from your bank. They often beat the OZForex rates as well as they match buyers and sellers of currency together in a Marketplace to help find you the best rates.

Our team have used Currency Fair and found their rates are excellent, if not some of the best on the market. You can even suggest a exchange rate range that you want and wait for it to be matched to someone prepared to exchange at that rate.

Check out their rates above.

TransferWise

TransferWise uses a similar concept to Currency Fair. They bring people transferring money from different countries together. The bonus with TransferWise is that in select currencies you can use your Debit Card to transfer the money rather than having to pay into an account.

Check out their rates via the link

Best transferring between $2000-10000 NZ Dollars

Currency Fair

Again some of the best exchange rates in Australia and only charge approx. $5 for an exchange!

FxCompared

You can find some of the cheapest deals here

 

Free Debt Advice

A useful site for debt advice is Sorted NZ

It is setup by the Retirement Commission to help you save for your future or help you find your way out of debt.

There is a section called Managing Debt which can help you find ways to get support to help improve the situation.


If you are in debt what should you do?

First accept you have a problem & take steps to find help to sort it out.
There are numerous organisations that can help you.
If you are concerned you may be facing financial difficulties get free advice and counselling from
  • NZ Federation of Family Budgeting Services

    (or call free 0508 283 438)

  • Citizens Advice Bureau

    who can point you in the right direction for local services available in your area.

Contact your creditors (ie mortgage holders, loan holders etc) and explain your situation. You can always do this after talking to debt agencies but try to do this soon as they have seen this before and are likely to deal with you more positively.
So what do you need to do?
  1. Try not to miss a repayment if you can.
  2. Contact your lender as soon as you can to draw up plans for repayment.
  3. Make a budget to try to get you out of this debt. There are many budget planners online.
  4. Prioritise your debt. Pay your mirtgage to keep the roof over your head & pay utility bills so that you can keep on the power, water etc!
  5. Draw up a repayment plan. You can draw up a plan with your ceditors to reduce this at a rate that is suitable to both of you.
  6. Consolidate your debts, if you can. You may be able to get a lower interest rate.

 

New Zealand Benefits

Check out here benefits you are entitled to within New Zealand:WINZ List of Benefits & Supplements
NZ Superannuation65 & Older or have a relative who is?See what you/they are also entitled to at WINZ 65 & older websiteYou maybe surprised that you maybe entitled to benefits you didn’t know you were entitled to so always check it out.