Can anyone recommend banks in New Zealand that I can park some cash, and manage from Taiwan? I have heard that not only are deposit rates good over there, but the service is good, no questions asked, and easy to handle.
Please share your own experience. I’ll be looking to make a few money transfers in and out very the next year, too.
[quote=“Lingchen”]Can anyone recommend banks in New Zealand that I can park some cash, and manage from Taiwan? I have heard that not only are deposit rates good over there, but the service is good, no questions asked, and easy to handle.
Please share your own experience. I’ll be looking to make a few money transfers in and out very the next year, too.[/quote]
You mean fixed account?
NZ banks pay interest with sheep.
You can try the following:
Public Trust Office - government guaranteed. 5% oncall, min. deposit 500NZD. Fixed term deposits 5% and up, to around 8%.
Kiwi Bank - fairly new bank, good interest rates, very low charges. NZ-owned.
Non-residents pay 10% withholding tax on interest earned.
Hope that helps.
Kiwibank pay around 7.6 on fixed (term) deposits and have limited charges. The average fixed term deposit interest in NZ is 7%. ANZ pays 7% on their online account. There is a certain amount of money on all the accounts before you reach that particular interest rate.
I’d go with ANZ, National or Kiwibank.
Thank you for the replies. This is helpful
I’ve noticed that there are term rates as high as 7.35% (annualized) at ASB, 7.60% at KiwiBank (365 day terms) and 7.55% at WestPac
I am not a New Zealander nor am I planning to be a resident. Will this be a problem? It’s funny. The Kiwibank website says, “We want to treat you as an individual, not a number. We’ll be straightforward and fair in all our dealings with you” but I only want to be treated as a number! I want keep my personal details as private as possible, but I expect this of a good bank anyway.
I am curious about any taxes that I should be aware of beyond the 10% mentioned above. Also, if they have tax treaties with other countries, do they automatically report to them?
My other question concerns transfering US$ out to NZ from Taiwan.
Let’s say “my friend” is a US Citizen living in Taiwan, and wants to transfer US$100,000 to his new account in New Zealand. If he moves the money as US$, it will “pass through” New York, where it can be scrutinized by the USG/IRS.
Is there a real risk that this size an amount would attract any attention? Especially from the IRS? I don’t think the USG will care, since this is a transfer between 2 offshore accounts, from a Taiwan bank to a NZ bank.
Is there a rule of thumb to follow for “cut-off” amounts?
I have a silly sounding question, but I will ask it anyway - is this available to non New Zealanders?
The Public Trust website clearly states[quote]Public Trust is a trustee organisation with a unique mandate to protect the future of New Zealanders. We offer a wide range of legal and financial services to help you. But our role is different from others, like banks and lawyers, who may offer similar services. In fact we even have our own act of parliament to protect your interests.
What do we do?
We provide New Zealanders from all walks with the legal and financial expertise and services they need at different stages of their life - and after their death. We also have an important public role.
[/quote]
So does this rule out a foreigner from placing money there at around 8%? I just want to be absolutely sure 