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Don’t pay more fees than you have to – try these tips to help you achieve fee freedom.
Make sure you understand what service, transaction and account fees you’re paying on your account. Take a look at our rates and fees page and see if you’ve got the best account for you, or if there’s one that might suit you better.
Everyday accounts, for example, are designed for money to go into and come out of regularly. They generally have no or low electronic transaction fees and low interest because your money isn't sitting in them for long. Savings accounts, on the other hand, are designed to encourage you to not touch your money and often charge fees on withdrawals. If you fall into the habit of using your savings accounts often, you'll find that fees quickly add up.
If you think there's an account which could suit you better, talk to us about changing accounts.
Set up your automatic payments or direct debits to come out the day after you get paid, that way you’ll know there’s always enough money in your account to cover them.
If you don’t have the funds to meet an automatic payment or direct debit you’ll be hit with a dishonour fee. If you have an automatic payment that fails three payment cycles in a row, we’ll cancel it, so you don’t keep incurring dishonour fees.
You can see a list of your automatic payments and when they’re due to go out in internet banking or our mobile app. With direct debits we can’t tell you when payments are due, as the organisation you’re paying controls that.
Our Bill Blaster account holds your bills money away from temptation. It works alongside your Free Up, Now or Front Runner accounts. It has no transaction fees and a lower dishonour fee than our other accounts.
You could also set up PayStream to help you budget your money by setting aside a certain amount of money or a percentage of incoming payments to a separate account. PayStream is free to set up in the first 30 days after you open your Kiwibank account – after that there’s a $3 set up or change fee.
Sweep automatically moves money between accounts when they reach set minimum or maximum amounts.
Sweep can ensure your automatic payments won’t dishonour when you have enough money sitting in another chosen account.
Set up text or email alerts so we can let you know if there isn’t enough money in your account to cover a regular automatic. This alert gives you a chance to transfer some money before we try the payment again.
Alerts are available on all accounts except credit cards, personal loans or KiwiSaver.
Fees may be charged if your account goes into unauthorised overdraft.
If you find yourself occasionally slipping into the red, applying for an authorised overdraft could be a good way to manage this. Lending criteria, terms and conditions, interest rates, and fees apply.
Use internet or mobile banking, rather than going into a branch or using telephone banking.
You get five free calls to phone banking each month, but after that it costs $5 per call to a customer service representative, or $0.50 per call to the automated phone banking system.
A Free Up account has no monthly account or transaction fees when you bank online (service fees may apply).
If you've not used internet or mobile banking before, take a look at our Support Hub for pointers.
If you want a credit card with no account fee, take a look at our Zero Visa Credit Card.
Avoid fees by making at least the minimum payments on credit cards on time every month (interest charges still apply).
Even better, if you can afford to, set up a direct debit to pay your balance off completely every month and avoid interest charges as well.
Consider a Visa Debit Card – it’s like a credit card but you’re using the money in your transaction account. Buy things you’d normally use a credit card for – online, overseas, at home, wherever. The $10 annual fee is waived for the first year. The Visa Debit Card is not available on all accounts.
Visit our Managing your card page for more credit card tips.