For official information on banking in New Zealand a good starting point is the Reserve Bank of New Zealand website. There are a number of major banks in New Zealand:
All will accept international cash cards in their machines and allow you to exchange foreign currency or travellers cheques. If you are staying for a year then it is worth opening a New Zealand bank account. This will give you access to an Eftpos card which is the card payment method available across New Zealand. To open a bank account in New Zealand you will need appropriate identification such as a passport or driving licence. Some banks also have an initial amount of money you must place in an account to open it. You can also open some accounts whilst still at home so its worth checking out their websites for more details. The majority of employers will want to pay directly into an NZ bank account so its worth opening one if you are heading to NZ on a Working Holiday.
A useful thing to remember is that banks in New Zealand open from 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday. They close on weekends and bank holidays.
For more information take a look at our Currency and Money page in this guide.
PLEASE NOTE: In order to open a bank account you need to have a permanent address within New Zealand. If you do not have this you can sign up for one with our Mail Service.
Paying for Products/Services in NZ using Cards
In major cities and towns you will have no problem using plastic cards to pay for things. EFTPOS is the plastic card transaction system used in New Zealand and uses a pin system to authorise transactions. If your credit card from home uses a signature it can still be used in NZ but be aware that some staff will not really know what to check for!
When purchasing something using a card you will be handed a terminal which shows the amount of money you owe. It will also ask you which account you want to use to pay for the transaction. The options are cheque, savings and credit. Basically with some banks in New Zealand you can use the one card to pay out of different accounts you may have with them. If you have a standard NZ account choose 'cheque' and then follow the requests to enter your pin. If you are using a credit card from abroad choose 'credit'. Then if it is a signature card choose 'enter' which will print out a receipt for you to sign.
Paying for Products/Services in NZ using Cards 
