Public notices 2019

We've made changes to some of our home loan fees. These changes were effective from 9 December 2019.

The changes have been summarised below. For full descriptions of when each fee is applicable, download an updated copy of our Personal Banking fees and limits brochure.

Home loan fees being removed

*Full descriptions of when each fee is applicable can be found at kiwibank.co.nz/fees

We've made interest rate changes to some of our savings and investments products. The new rates were effective from 2 December 2019.

You can manage your savings and investment accounts through your internet banking or mobile app.

Notice Saver

Minimum investment $2,000. The rate of return for Notice Saver can change at any time and without notice. This means the rate might go up or down during your investment.

*No changes to the $0 - $1,999.99 tier.

Front Runner

No transaction fees or monthly account management fees if you have a minimum balance of $4,000 across your Front Runner accounts (a $15 monthly fee applies if balance drops below $4,000).

Effective from 19 November 2019, Kiwibank stopped offering the Western Union^® money transfer services.

To find your closest Western Union agent, you can visit westernunion.com. You can also send money online via westernunion.co.nz or via the Western Union^® mobile app.

We’ve made changes to foreign cash that came into effect on Friday, 1 November 2019.

From this date, we no longer sell or purchase foreign cash through our branches or online. We've accordingly removed some of the fees that were associated with those services, specifically foreign cash (Kiwibank buys) and foreign cash (Kiwibank sells).

For any foreign cash requirements, you can visit travelex.co.nz.

Download the new Personal Banking fees and limits brochure and Business Banking fees and limits brochure.

We've made interest rate changes to some of our savings and investments products following changes in the market. The new rates were effective from 1 October 2019.

You can manage your savings and investment accounts through your internet banking or mobile app.

Online Call, PIE Online Call & Business Online Call

Online Call rewards you with bonus interest each calendar month when you: make no withdrawals or transfers; and have a minimum balance of $2,000 in your account at any time.

As well as updates reflecting the changes to our cheques service, we’ve also updated the General Terms and Conditions to provide increased clarity regarding the steps we’ll take if we receive a request for information from the police or any government agency. These changes were effective from 30 September 2019. Download a copy of the new General Terms and Conditions.

We've made changes to our Notice Saver interest rates following changes in the market. The new rates were effective from 12 August 2019. You can manage your savings and investment accounts through internet banking or the mobile app.

*No changes to the $0 - $1,999.99 tier.

On 1 August 2019, the following changes were made to the Air New Zealand Lounge eVoucher benefit on the Airpoints Standard Mastercard/Visa and the Airpoints Platinum Mastercard/Visa.

*Eligible purchases do not include cash advances, balance transfers, the purchase of cash substitutes such as foreign currency, travellers cheques and gambling chips or business related expenditure.

^From 1 August 2019, two single use Air New Zealand Lounge eVouchers will be issued for every $30,000 spent in each 12-month period from the date the card was issued. The maximum number of Lounge eVouchers that can be earned in each 12-month period will be four (i.e. two pairs). If you have been credited two or more pairs of Lounge eVouchers prior to 1 August 2019, you will not be credited any additional Lounge eVouchers until the start of your next card anniversary date.

On 1 July 2019, Kiwibank reduced the purchase and cash advance interest rates on three of its credit cards, as follows:

Interest rates are subject to change.

Any interest charged on statements issued from 1 July 2019 onwards will be applied at these new interest rates.

Please also note the Low Rate Mastercard account fee will drop. The new fee will apply when you're next due to be charged it, after 1 July 2019.

On 1 July 2019, we've increased the free cash threshold for notes on deposits and withdrawals to $4,000 from $2,000 per day and also decreasing the margin from 0.5% to 0.35% across both notes and coins.

We've also amended the change order fee to apply up to the $3,000 maximum from its current $2,000 (as the cash handling fee will no longer apply to orders over $2,000).

Update September 2023: Please note - since this public notice was published, we've removed policy wordings from our website.

You'll find more information about Credit Card Repayment Insurance on our products no longer offered page.

Kiwi Insurance made changes to the Credit Card Repayment Insurance Cover wording. These changes:

• Enhance your cover, increasing some cover amounts as well as introducing Terminal Illness cover
• Introduce cover for pre-existing medical conditions, as long as a number of requirements are met
• Widen our claim eligibility criteria and are clearer about who can make claims for temporary inability to work, permanent inability to work, redundancy and bankruptcy
• Reduce premium costs for some customers (individual primary insured cardholders under 35)
• Change our cancellation policy and being clearer about the distinction between primary and joint cardholders under a joint policy, including who can cancel cover under a joint policy
• Offer an easier to read layout.

These changes were effective from 20 May 2019 for new customers and from 20 July 2019 for existing customers. Full details of the changes, as well as terms and important conditions and exclusions are in the Credit Card Repayment Insurance Cover wording.

We’ve made interest rate changes to some of our savings and investments products following changes in the market. The new rates were effective from 13 May 2019. You can manage your savings and investment accounts through your internet banking or mobile app.

Notice Saver

* No changes to the $0 - $1,999.99 tier.

Online Call, PIE Online Call & Business Online Call

Online Call rewards you with bonus interest each calendar month when you:

• make no withdrawals or transfers; and
• have a minimum balance of $2,000 in your account at any time.

We've made some changes to the Kiwibank Credit Card terms and conditions. The changes were effective from 6 May 2019 and included:

• Being clearer as to the distinction between primary cardholders, joint cardholders and additional cardholders
• Being clearer as to what we may do where there is a dispute between cardholders (and what we may consider to be a “dispute”)
• Providing detail as to when and how your card may be transferred to a different card type (including where you ask us to transfer you to a different card type)
• Adding in details about the current minimum payment requirements.

Kiwi Wealth has made some changes to the investment funds in its KiwiSaver scheme. These changes affected fees and the structure of asset allocations in its Conservative and Growth investment funds. The CashPlus investment fund is now also be closed to new members.

The changes to fees and the closure of the CashPlus fund were effective from 1 April 2019 and the asset allocation restructure took place on or around 30 April 2019.

Government changes

The Government also introduced a number of changes to KiwiSaver this year, which was rolled out in two phases. The first phase was effective from 1 April 2019 and included:

• Introducing two new employee contribution rates, 6% and 10%, which will be available in addition to the existing rates of 3%, 4% and 8%
• The member tax credit will be renamed Government contributions
• Contributions holiday will become known as savings suspension
• The maximum savings suspension period will be reduced from five years to one year.

Visit the Kiwi Wealth website to find out more.

We’ve made changes to the way we handle foreign cheques, effective from 29 March 2019. If your foreign cheque is over the value of NZ$500, it can take up to four to six weeks (or longer in some cases) for us to process. We’ll only accept foreign cheques under the value of NZ$500 on a case by case basis at our discretion.

Download a copy of the new General Terms and Conditions effective from 29 March 2019.

We've removed some of our overdraft fees, effective from 1 February 2019. Download the new Personal banking fees and limits brochure. The changes have been summarised below.