# Banking and money transfer



## Lsung (Oct 27, 2013)

Heya how did you guys go about transferring money from the uk to New Zealand? How long does it take to transfer money...a couple of days I assume? Did you open up a bank account whilst in the uk and can you give me some recommendations for descent banks?

Thanks


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## Kimbella (Jul 4, 2013)

Lsung said:


> Heya how did you guys go about transferring money from the uk to New Zealand? How long does it take to transfer money...a couple of days I assume? Did you open up a bank account whilst in the uk and can you give me some recommendations for descent banks?
> 
> Thanks


Howdy, I came from the US, not sure how different it is.

I was able to open an account with Westpac while still in the US, and transfer money. It was a while ago, so I don't remember how long it too, sorry. Once I arrived in NZ, I had to go to a local branch with proof of address, and my passport for ID so they could confirm my account. It was pretty easy. I wound up eventually moving to ASB bank instead (I found their rates to be better), but we still have a peripheral account with Westpac that we transfer small amounts of money in and out of...


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## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

Lsung said:


> Heya how did you guys go about transferring money from the uk to New Zealand? How long does it take to transfer money...a couple of days I assume? Did you open up a bank account whilst in the uk and can you give me some recommendations for descent banks?
> 
> Thanks


Open a bank account (I recommend Kiwibank - Banking New Zealand - never had any complaints at all while we've been with them and they're very good on-line)

Then use Currency Online - Foreign Currency Exchange, Money Transfers, International Payments to transfer cash from a UK bank account. Again. we've used them many times. They're cheaper than the banks, give you a better exchange rate and you can 'lock in' your rate then and there so you know how much you're getting.


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## Lsung (Oct 27, 2013)

Thanks for your advice...how long does it take for the money to transfer? A couple of days?


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## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

Lsung said:


> Thanks for your advice...how long does it take for the money to transfer? A couple of days?


It depends on when you do the transaction. If you do it on a Friday afternoon then it may not transfer until the following Tuesday (because of the weekend). 
Otherwise, yes, a couple of days after you've transferred the money to their account.


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## Fuzz (Nov 19, 2012)

How easy was/is it to open a bank account in NZ?

Moving from the US to the UK, it was a pain opening an account in the UK -- they wanted tons of documentation (in original paper form no less!) and needed a lot of time for verification and checks and everything. I think it was almost 3 weeks before we could open and use our bank account here in the UK.

How easy/quick is it in NZ?


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## Mark D (Dec 9, 2012)

Yeh I just took cash. Opened a bank here with anz. I used a visa from Thompson to keep the majority of my cash until I arrived. And transferred it then as it was already in NZ $


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## Kimbella (Jul 4, 2013)

Fuzz said:


> How easy was/is it to open a bank account in NZ?
> 
> Moving from the US to the UK, it was a pain opening an account in the UK -- they wanted tons of documentation (in original paper form no less!) and needed a lot of time for verification and checks and everything. I think it was almost 3 weeks before we could open and use our bank account here in the UK.
> 
> How easy/quick is it in NZ?


I opened my Westpac account online while still in California, transferred some money to it before I even moved to NZ. Once I arrived (with more cash), I just went to a local branch and showed proof of address and my passport as ID. I kept my bank account open in the US with a "slush fund" of money that I transfer money from when I need/want it. I transfer using Paypal now, instead of the bank transfer, because I save on transaction fees, and the currency exchange is usually a better price. The initial set up with Westpac was done via the online bank website, and a few emails back and forth. Very, very easy.


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## Fuzz (Nov 19, 2012)

Kimbella said:


> I opened my Westpac account online while still in California, transferred some money to it before I even moved to NZ. Once I arrived (with more cash), I just went to a local branch and showed proof of address and my passport as ID. I kept my bank account open in the US with a "slush fund" of money that I transfer money from when I need/want it. I transfer using Paypal now, instead of the bank transfer, because I save on transaction fees, and the currency exchange is usually a better price. The initial set up with Westpac was done via the online bank website, and a few emails back and forth. Very, very easy.


Thanks. I'll have to look into Westpac. We also kept our bank account in the US with some money when we moved to the UK (very useful for buying software as a download on Amazon, which is allowed only to US cardholders). I think we'll keep the US account as-is and move all our money out of our UK account into NZ.

Did not know about Paypal, so thanks for that tip. Although we did all our transfer at the beginning and don't do anymore, still good to know.


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