Text 5034, 97 rader
Skriven 2010-02-19 11:05:02 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
   Kommentar till text 5030 av Peter Knapper (3:772/1.0)
Ärende: Banking
===============
Peter Knapper wrote to All on Friday February 19 2010 at 17:46:

PK> In essence I can -

PK> Transfer funds from any of my accounts to anyone elses account AT ANY
PK> BANK that exists in NZ. This is a same day service as NZ has a ZERO
PK> "float" for all transaction accounts in the Interbank/Branch transfer
PK> environment.

Very nice. Then this is apparently similar to the German situation except that
here the "float" is a maximum of three business days. However, account to
account transfers made by Internet generally are completed in two days
(occasionally even in one).

PK> I can set up REGULAR payments of a Fixed amount to any other NZ
PK> Bank/Branch/Account.

This is also similar to what we have here. They call it a "Dauerauftrag"
(recurring payment by account to account transfer).

PK> Selected interest bearing accounts DO incur transaction charges above
PK> a prescribed number of monthly limit, however as long as you stay
PK> within this limit the charge is $0.

This is different, as you can't transfer funds directly from a savings account
to another account - and regular accounts generally bear no interest
(exceptions noted below) and as a result are generally kept at a zero balance.

"Overdraft protection" is also standard here: after you open an account and
operate it for several months, assuming you're an employee with a regular
salary transferred to the account monthly, you can have, for the asking, an
overdraft limit of (usually) three times your monthly salary. Interest is
charged for the overdraft, and is higher than that on a normal loan, but such
an overdraft is convenient (no applications or agreements necessary, just
overdraw) and the interest ceases the minute your account reaches at least a
zero balance.

One reason for the prevalance of this system (compared to the relative
difficulty and expense of overdraft protection in the States) is the fact that
Germans are legally required to register their residence - there is not the
same opportunity to simply "skip" with no forwarding address as there is in the
States.

PK> ALL forms of credit cards can be used for any form of payment, even
PK> Deposits, however normal credit card fees apply to most of the Debit
PK> types.

Same here.

PK> Most of the NZ Banks earn their income from handling "dishonours" or
PK> rejected/cancelled transactions. IE they charge heavily for what they
PK> view as "abnormal" behaviour.

The banks here get their money mainly from loans and overdraft interest, as
well as fees charged for purchasing and selling bonds and stocks. There are no
rejected/dishonored account to account transfers (unless the overdraft limit is
exceeded, which is rare). The positively unbelieveable fees charged by US banks
for things like overdrafts and checks returned because of inadequate balance
are unknown here.

And of course, even here there are people who leave money in their regular
accounts, allowing the banks to earn interest on it and getting nothing for the
account holder. Some people are simply not "money savvy".

PK> The NZ banks tend to be generous for those that maintain a "healthy"
PK> balance in their accounts, even though they are paying interest on the
PK> deposited funds.

Albeit presumably very low interest. There are a very few banks here that also
do this, but the rate is usually around 0.5% and thus totally uninteresting -
people would generally prefer to put the money into an account with daily
accessibility ("call money": you can withdraw even the whole balance from one
day to the next), which pays a good deal more (around 2% at the moment, has
been up to around 5% - naturally Euro rates).

PK> For those that are constantly in debt they charge like wounded
PK> bulls...

Overdrafts are expensive here too, as mentioned. The current rate is something
like 14%. There are (low income) people with constant overdrafts, and they pay
through the nose here too.

PK> NZ Banks are quite profitable for their investors.

If they're managed properly. Some here are, some aren't. Some got into the
derivatives market and were stung badly.

PK> International transactons are a complete other matter, and its safe to
PK> say that tehy suffer from excessive charges, usually applied by the
PK> off-shore party........;-)

That's a problem regardless of where you are (except inside the EU).

Cheers, Bob

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