Receiving money from overseas

Receiving an international payment

You can receive money into either an everyday account or a foreign currency account from another bank almost anywhere in the world.

The person sending you the money needs the following information:

Your information

• Your full account name
• Your account number. Please contact our international services team if you’d like to credit your Foreign Currency Account
• Your physical address

Kiwibank details

Kiwibank Limited, Level 9, 20 Customhouse Quay, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand.

Swift code: KIWINZ22

Their information

We need to comply with Anti-Money Laundering legislation, so make sure the person sending you money includes:

• Their account number from the bank they’re sending money from
• Their full name – no initials, everything needs to be spelled out
• Their full street address. PO box numbers aren’t acceptable.

Extra information you might need to supply

You may be asked to provide extra information, like BSB numbers, sort codes, routing codes or IBAN numbers. These are just different terms used overseas for bank, branch and account numbers. Your full Kiwibank account number starting with ‘38’ includes these details. For Foreign Currency accounts, talk to our international services team.

If you have any questions, please contact our international services team or email international@kiwibank.co.nz.

Fees

You’ll be charged an inward international payment fee of $12 when you receive a payment from an overseas bank account into your account. Other fees may also apply.

Depositing foreign cheques or bank drafts

If you’re receiving money via a foreign cheque or draft, please be aware it could take several weeks for funds to clear and appear in your account.

How it works

Making a deposit

You need to go into your nearest Kiwibank to deposit a foreign cheque or bank draft. We only accept foreign cheques or bank drafts over the value of NZ$500.

Clearance times

The money from a foreign cheque or bank draft won’t be deposited into your account until it has been cleared. This can take up to four to six weeks (or longer in some cases) as we have to send the cheque back to the overseas bank that issued it for verification.

Dishonoured foreign cheques

A foreign cheque can be dishonoured if: the sender stops its, there’s not enough money in the sender’s account, it’s stolen, or it’s sent fraudulently. If a cheque is dishonoured other banks involved in processing the foreign currency cheque or bank draft will charge dishonour fees – these will vary from bank to bank and will be passed on to you.