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Have your say: Kiwibank awarded best NZ bank by The Banker. Is it the best?
December 7th, 2009The Banker magazine has named Kiwibank the best New Zealand bank in its annual awards for banks globally. Here’s what they wrote in their awards edition. Rabobank was awarded the best Dutch bank and Westpac was awarded the best Australian bank. Here’s what The Banker wrote about Kiwibank.
Established in 2002 by the state-owned New Zealand Post Board, Kiwibank is the epitome of a young, energetic upstart with expansive ambitions underpinned by strong, creative branding and product ideas. In May 2008, Kiwibank launched two innovative deposit products, while in March and April 2009 the bank launched a wealth advisory team, the Kiwibank Visa debit card and unveiled a joint venture with AMP Capital Investors to offer a range of managed funds.
Kiwibank’s strong focus on the end customer, competitive pricing and excellent customer service, impressed the judges. Energy and innovation is matched, however, by strong growth and financials, with Kiwibank posting a meaty 52% increase in assets and a 19% growth in net profits during 2008. From the beginning of the financial year to June 2009, the bank also experienced growth in retail deposits of 39%. In order to build on its success so far and free up funds for future investment, Kiwibank raised $60m through an oversubscribed unsecured subordinated bond issue in September 2008, the proceeds of which are being used to augment the bank’s capital base and support further expansion.
Underlining its success to date, Kiwibank was awarded so-called ‘big bank’ status by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in May this year, following the expansion of the bank’s balance sheet to $10bn.
“We believed there was room for a New Zealand-owned bank offering better service and more competitive rates and fees. We wanted to make a difference. We have had massive support from New Zealanders and now have a customer base of more than 650,000 people,” says Sam Knowles, CEO of Kiwibank. “To be recognised by The Banker magazine is an endorsement of our endeavours by the industry. It gives us renewed confidence to meet the challenge of continued growth of market share and profitability.”
The Roy Morgan survey of customer satisfaction for banks in New Zealand that was released in September showed TSB had the highest customer satisfaction, while Kiwibank was second, ASB was third, National Bank fourth, Westpac and BNZ fifth equal, and ANZ last.
What’s your view?
Has The Banker got it right or is Roy Morgan more accurate?
Tags: ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, National, Rabobank, Roy Morgan, The Banker, Westpac
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December 7th, 2009 at 9:51 am
yawn….
December 7th, 2009 at 9:51 am
We have been Kiwibank customers for 7 years now and continue to be very happy with the friendly service and the products they offer. When calling the 0800 Kiwibank Priority banking number, the phone is always answered promptly by a person and any questions I may have are dealt with in an efficient and friendly manner.
Their online offering has continued to be enhanced this year, and one of the most valuable features for us is the ability to store Payee Details for future use. ASB charges a fee for this service, which they call Fastnet Office. With Kiwibank it’s free, and by using this, I can pay all our monthly farm bills very quickly and easily, without having to re-enter the Payee Bank Account details each time.
December 7th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Ummmm , no stories with some ” meat on the bone ” , today ? ( double yawn )
December 7th, 2009 at 10:33 am
This is far more pertinent about BANKING.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/12/05/amtrust-not-a-normal-bank-failure-as-2009-total-hits-130/
December 7th, 2009 at 11:33 am
It’s funny how ANZ ALWAYS comes last in these poles
December 7th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Call me cycnical but here’s a headline for you:
Eketahuna service station voted “Best service station in NZ”
Judges were impressed by the stations philosophy:
“we wanted to show we were different to the Big Boys” says service station owner Trev Dagg
“and we have managed to consistently offer our petrol at a 1cent discount and offer full service for free”
“and now the big boys even let us attend the monthly parties with them (but won’t let us in on the cartel meeting just yet) “
December 7th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
” Taihape Farmers’ Co-op Voted Best Stock & Station Agency in NZ ” . Co-op manager Bruce Bayliss attributes this to uncompromising quest for service with a smile . Also introduction of the new slim-line high speed gum-boots led to a run on the store . ” Sales sprinted ahead , as competitors in the Taihape Dairy and Fencing Games sought an advantage in the blue ribbon event , the men’s 100 yard dash , up-hill . “
December 7th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
The article seems a bit like an invitation for the usual sneering at Kiwibank you see on this site, but when I was setting up the accounts for my business I went round all the offerings and Kiwibank’s was the best and cheapest. Nothing that’s happened in the last couple of years has changed that, so we’ll stay with them.
December 7th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
KiwiBank had great potential whilst it was being run akin to the TSB to the Taranaki community that owns it by trust and receives its profits as dividends, the TSB has the central banker rented money supply coursing through its veins via the deposits of its local community, from which it skims a profit for its local owners. Kiwibank could have done the same for the Kiwi community, but now the new central banker on sabatical led National Party executive and their central banker advisory taskforces have subversively undermined it by allowing/ordering it to begin borrowing on the open money markets, now inflicting it with the cancerous tumor of central banker created credit that will now see what should be the Kiwi communities profits only start flowing offshore. Once they get their hooks into it, eventually they will suppress what would have given us a storage and transfer system for our own debt free based public credit.
We must stop this cancer before it becomes big enough to become terminal.
December 7th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
The amusing thing about this award is that this is the one ASB and Goldstein go on about on their TV adverts – “won 7 years in a row”. I wonder if they will be so cocky now that Kiwibank has won it at first attempt. The first time a “Kiwi” bank has ever won this award!
December 8th, 2009 at 8:56 am
This bank is about customer acquisition only. They don’t invest adequate time with customers to render any real banking assistance. Who wants to wait in a queue full of people paying accounts and posting parcels to place a deposit in a ‘bank’?
They are sucking parent NZ Post dry of capital to fill up this political football … I think the passion that drove people to this “Kiwi” bank has subsided and NZ’rs are looking for real banking experience to assist them with their financial activities.
Let NZ Post go back to licking stamps! (and Banker Magazine … make a visit to NZ to see reality in the finance sector a priority for 2010)
December 8th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Suck eggs ASB – you AUSSIE tosser.
Kiwi bank is continuing to go up.
POLITICALLY, people like it.
Ownership does have strong brand meaning. Thats where support for this grows
December 8th, 2009 at 9:25 am
I joined kiwibank back when it first opened as I wanted to support a NZ owned bank. About 3 years ago I sort a loan from them to buy a house that I already half owned, they did the numbers over the phone and they practically laughed at me and said no way!
Got a loan from an Aussiebank without any fuss (they actually sent a human out to meet me, what a concept) and will never again deal with kiwibank.
December 8th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Kiwibank will not have deleverage problems when assets tank
December 8th, 2009 at 11:45 am
All those people saying they are happy with Kiwibank please just check two things:
Go back over your floating rate loan statements and check that your interest charged has actually decreased with the supposed cuts in the floating rate.
They have had to refund literally thousands of dollars of overcharged interest to my sister after she found they had not actually been passing on the decreases.
And also realise that KiwiBank is the ONLY bank the Commerce Commission is still investigating over the incorrect calculation of break fees.
Thats right people the only bank that has probably breached the CCCFA and been ripping its customers off in break fees is KIWIBANK!
At least the TSB returns money to the community each year instead of slowly siphoning funds off every New Zealander to prop up their capital base.
December 8th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Really, adrian n? Explain that one to me, please. Or maybe you just forgot to put the question mark after your comment?
December 8th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
How did the TSB avoid the fate of all the other regional banks?. What was wrong with the regional bank model that returned a small profit back to the local community? Could it be revived? Auckland could call theirs the “Real ASB” maybe with Hone as its spokesman, head to head with Goldstein, talking about Aussie motherf***ers.
December 8th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
stevek –
Organic growth. Something else KiwiBank is yet to learn and the reason it remains a millstone around NZs neck
December 8th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Kiwibank has a tougher lending criteria. Higher equity and sustainable income to loan ratio. They are prudent lenders.
December 8th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
They may be prudent but they do lend. Not like these Aussie banks. Ask any business (with oz bank) how their loans and overdraft limits have fared and all the xtra rates and fees. So now ASB has p——ed off most of their business customers now they are trying to claim they are a NZ Bank. What the Govt needs to do is fund / gaurantee another NZ Owned Bank.
December 9th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
i joined kiwibank when they first started( being very kiwi and looking for cheaper bank ) and I have only had grief from them , it took months to organise first morg ( plain and simple no fuss morg ) and they stuffed up everything they possibly could . I found them them very hobbyist and compare them to tf ( Territorial soldiers ) to rf ( regular force) with no disrespect to the tfs but 20 days a year just wont produce quality . anyway to cut a long story short I emailed kiwibank to say how dissatisfied I was with there service and the worst I got was to say their service was “absolutely bullshit” the morg manager rang me and said that himself and the boss would love to get rid of me as a customer if they could wtf?? . Sold that house last year and brought a new old and applied for new morg with them , had 4 weeks to settlement thought everything was fine , they told us on day before settlement that morg wasnt approved wtf? so got a broker involved (mike pero )and had morg approved within 2 hrs (national bank) now that is service . for me kiwibank is def the worst hobbyist bank there is !!
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Having been a very satisfied customer of ANZ for the last 7 years, I find it difficult to understand how ANZ still ranks at the bottom of most banking customer satisfaction surveys. I agree with Mark that it’s funny how ANZ always come last in these polls since I have had poor experience with the top-ranking banks.
I’ve had a similar experience to dogma. I have a student overdraft with ANZ. I recently decided to switch to Kiwibank, so I opened an account and started using them as my primary bank. I liked the service — especially the online banking. So I went ahead and applied for an overdraft with Kiwibank. I was declined — despite having a good credit score. So I closed my account with Kiwibank and switched back to ANZ.
So, Jimmy, I’m afraid that it seems Kiwibank does not lend money very well at all. I have a credit score better than approx 70% of the population (according to the numbers on my most recent credit report I obtained from Veda Advantage) and Kiwibank still wouldn’t give me a small overdraft.
ASB (who came 3rd after Kiwibank) is not much better. I was with the ASB for over a decade and near the end I realized that they do not look after their long serving customers very well at all. I had $10 in my account at one point and I had a direct debit for $15 due to be processed. ASB dishonored the direct debit and charged a $25 dishonor fee. I’ve been in the same situation with ANZ and they just processed the direct debit and charged a $10 unarranged overdraft fee.
I note that the culture at ANZ seems to follow a “do what’s best for the customer” philosophy whereas ASB and Kiwibank seem to follow a “do what’s best for the bank” philosophy. No prizes for guessing which corporate culture/philosophy I prefer!
February 20th, 2010 at 10:13 am
kiwibank ,very disappointing ,i went to invest $100,000 with them in panmure ,after spending 45mts with the girl who was trying to get the program up and running to accept my investment ,i gave up and left with my money ,i find the staff poorly trained .also the costs of operating an account high ,.30 cents for a printout of your balance ,i am a kiwi and like to support this bank but my investment of $500,000 is now with A.S.B and other banks mainly to the poor service at kiwi bank ,im classed as a priority customer ,but still get very bad service
February 20th, 2010 at 10:30 am
KIWI BANK MMM $10 TO REPLACE A STOLEN CREDIT CARD ,I HAD OTHER CARDS STOLEN WHEN MY CAR WAS BROKEN INTO ,NO OTHER BANK REQUESTED THIS CHARGE,THIS IS THE TYPE OF ACTION THAT KILLS GOOD WILL AND MAKES U LOOK AT SHOULD U CONTINUE TO SUPPORT KIWI BANK .VERY AVERAGE SERVICE .