How to open a bank account in New Zealand

9 min readDec 5, 2022

Written by Ruiqi Li

New Zealand, as the last settleable land for human beings, is like the crystallized tears of the Pacific Ocean in the distant southern hemisphere. Its great inclusiveness, from landscape to culture, continues to draw people to it. Snow-capped mountains, deep glacial lakes, valleys and wetland grasslands, and the cultural diversity of the British-influenced colonial culture coexisting with the indigenous Maori culture make up the country’s unique flavor. Not only the culture, but also the bank system is very inclusive and mature, whether you are a local or an expatriate, it is not very difficult to have your own bank account in New Zealand.

Banks in New Zealand

In general, the five main local banks in New Zealand are: ANZ (ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited), BNZ (Bank of New Zealand), ASB(ASB Bank Limited), Westpac(Westpac Banking Corporation) and Kiwi Bank. ANZ is the biggest bank in New Zealand, gaining a 30% of market share, while BNZ is the second largest one with 19.1% of market share. ASB is the first bank that provides innovative services and functions like Online bank services to New Zealand. Westpac is the first and oldest bank in Australia with branches in New Zealand. Kiwi Bank is a New Zealand state-owned bank, also a popular choice for most people.

Next, this article will provide you with the account opening process and recommendations about these banks

Account Opening Process Overview

First of all, whether you are an overseas person coming to New Zealand or a local resident or a permanent resident, the documents you must prepare are proof of address.

1. Open an account in New Zealand

The process is: Complete the online application form — Identity verification at offline branches — Successfully open the account

It should be reminded that there is a restriction to open an account in different banks and that the type of visa and the duration of the visa affect the possibility of opening an account at certain banks. For example, to open an account with ANZ, you must have a visa for at least six months.

2. Open a New Zealand account overseas

The process is: Complete the online application form — Provide the required documents to the bank for review — Bank review completed — Enter New Zealand and go to the branch to verify your identity — Successfully open the account

It should be reminded that there are some restrictions to open an account overseas, they are:

The type of visa and the duration of the visa may affect whether this service can be processed.
Send the request at least 10 days but not more than 90 days in advance of the entry time to allow the bank some time to process the request.
If the identity is not verified after 90 days of entry time the account will be closed.

Open an account as a resident in New Zealand

As a resident over 18 years old, the documents you must prepare to open a bank account are:

● proof of a valid New Zealand residence address

● proof of identity (New Zealand driver’s license or passport is the most common)

1. If you have already opened a bank account in bnz and ANZ

If you already have an account with bnz and want to open a new one, all five banks offer smart account opening services, which means you can use your smartphone and passport or driver’s license and face recognition to complete the verification, and then open your account and use your account immediately.

Bnz Realme verification ANZ goMoney verification

2. If you have never opened a bank account in one of these five banks

If you have never opened an account with these banks, you will need to follow this process: Complete the online application form — Verify your identity at an offline branch — Open an account successfully.

The Information the online application form need is:

Valid New Zealand passport number/ Valid New Zealand driver license number
Valid New Zealand phone number
Valid New Zealand
IRD number(not necessary if you don’t have)

After sending the online application form, you will receive the appointment time with the offline bank branch. To verify your identification, you need to bring the proof of a valid New Zealand residence address and valid ID.

Once verification is complete, banks like Kiwi bank and ANZ can make and give the card immediately on the spot, and your debit card can be activated after 15 minutes by making the first deposit at an ATM. Other banks, such as ASB, will give you a temporary debit card to replace your debit card after activating your account on the spot, and the actual debit card will be sent out within seven business days. Once the account is opened, you will have an everyday account for your daily expenses. If you have a need for saving, a saving account is a good choice for you to keep savings and earn interest.

3. For users under 18 years old

● Under 16 years old

The bank will verify you and your child’s identity, address, and proof that you’re the child’s parent or legal guardian.

The documents have to be prepared are:

● You and your child’s ID

● Proof of address

● Proof of your relationship(original birth certificate court order or letter from Oranga Tamariki — Ministry for Children to your appointment)

The bank will also need a guardian to complete a one-off declaration on their behalf to certify their overseas tax residency before any accounts can be opened in their name.

● 16 -18 years old

Children bring two of their identity documents and proof of address to open a bank account by themselves.

4. Recommendations

● ANZ go account (the easiest one): $0 monthly account fee; $0 automated transaction fee; $3 manual transaction fee per staff-assisted transaction; $0 ANZ Visa Debit card annual fee. Find more details in https://www.anz.co.nz/personal/accounts/everyday-banking/go-account/

● Bnz (the cheapest one): No monthly account fee; No transaction fees; No credit interest; Unlimited withdrawals at no charge; Free account alerts. Find more information at https://www.bnz.co.nz/personal-banking/everyday-banking/youmoney#rates-and-fees

Open an account as a student studying in New Zealand

The main groups of students discussed in this paper are mainly international students and local students. For these two different groups, there are different account opening choices and program recommendations.

1. International students haven’t entered New Zealand

You can choose to open a bank account before you enter New Zealand, and this should follow the process as opening a bank account overseas. If you want to know the overview process, please look at “Open a New Zealand account overseas”. This method is not recommended in this article because it requires more documents that international students do not yet have, such as bank statements, etc, leading to document review failure. It is suggesting the second method, that is, to open an account after landing in New Zealand

2. International students and local students in New Zealand

If you are a local student or international student in New Zealand, to view the account opening process, please refer to “Open an account in New Zealand”. It is important to note that international students cannot open Tertiary and Graduate accounts offered by some banks like ANZ but can open international student accounts. If you have interest, you can refer to Westpac’s international student account, which is not only free of monthly fees but also has certain advantages in exchange rates. For more information, please refer to https://www.westpac.co.nz/accounts-cards/international-student-account/

International students can also open a regular everyday account. However, if your student visa is less than 6 months, you may not be able to open an account at ANZ, because to open an ANZ account the applicant must have a visa of at least 6 months.

The following documents are required for international students:

● Passport

● Visa

● Address Letter (Proof of valid New Zealand address)

● Provide evidence of enrolment

The following documents are required for local students:

● New Zealand Passport/ driving license

● Address Letter (Proof of valid New Zealand address)

● Provide evidence of enrolment

3. Recommendations

● For local students:

○ Westpac Tertiary account (the most experienced one): can be transferred to other student accounts like Graduate accounts. Westpac has a mature and complete student bank account system. Look more info in https://www.westpac.co.nz/accounts-cards/tertiary-account

○ ANZ Jumpstart accounts for students and under 21s(The easiest & cheapest one): No monthly account or transaction fees; waived visa card fee. Look more info in

https://www.anz.co.nz/personal/accounts/everyday-banking/jumpstart-account/

● For International students:

○ ASB account (the easiest one): Free monthly base fee if you choose a paperless statement. Find more info at https://www.asb.co.nz/bank-accounts#

○ Bnz (the cheapest one): No monthly account fee; No transaction fees; No credit interest; Unlimited withdrawals at no charge; Free account alerts. Find more information at https://www.bnz.co.nz/personal-banking/everyday-banking/youmoney#rates-and-fees

○ KiwiBank (the quickest one): Don’t need to make an appointment. Accept walk-in verifying requests. Find more information at

https://www.kiwibank.co.nz/personal-banking/accounts/everyday-accounts/free-up/

Open an account as a visitor in New Zealand

Under this section, this paper will focus on visitors on tourist visas and people on WHV, i.e. working tourist visas.

1. Visitors with tourist visas

If you belong to this category, whether you can open an account or not is determined by the length of your visa and your proof of address. New Zealand does not explicitly state that you cannot open an account in New Zealand with a tourist visa.

2. People holding WHV (Working holiday visa)

You can choose to open a bank account before you enter New Zealand or after entering New Zealand. If you want to know the overview process for the former one, please look at “Open a New Zealand account overseas”, else please look at “Open an account in New Zealand”.

Here is a list of the documents you will need to prepare if you choose to open an account overseas:

● Passport

● KYC form

● Visa

● Three months of electronic bank statements/Certificate of Deposit

Here is a list of the documents you will need to prepare if you choose to open an account in New Zealand:

● Passport

● Visa

● Address Letter (Proof of valid New Zealand address)

3. Recommendations

● KiwiBank (the quickest & easiest one): Don’t need to make an appointment. Accept walk-in verifying requests. Find more information at https://www.kiwibank.co.nz/personal-banking/accounts/everyday-accounts/free-up/

● ANZ go account (the most common one): $0 monthly account fee; $0 automated transaction fee; $3 manual transaction fee per staff-assisted transaction; $0 ANZ Visa Debit card annual fee. Find more details at https://www.anz.co.nz/personal/accounts/everyday-banking/go-account/

● bnz (the cheapest one): No monthly account fee; No transaction fees; No credit interest; Unlimited withdrawals at no charge; Free account alerts. Find more information at https://www.bnz.co.nz/personal-banking/everyday-banking/youmoney#rates-and-fees

If you want to get more information, here is a list of official homepages of these banks.

· ANZ: https://www.anz.co.nz/personal/

· bnz: https://www.bnz.co.nz/

· ASB: https://www.asb.co.nz/

· Westpac: https://www.westpac.co.nz/

· Kiwibank: https://www.kiwibank.co.nz/personal-banking/

This article was written by Ruiqi Li, a graduate student at NYU