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Speaker: Banking on a relationship

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  • Eoin Ryan,

    Same experience here. Kiwibank credit card, used overseas while on work trip a few times then blocked. I'm fairly easy going and was with others, so was lucky. My phone (which I think they have) was on VodafoneNZ roaming and there was no update, warning, query, etc.

    Called KB and had to wait until they were "open". Informed afterwards that letting them know of travel beforehand is a way to ensure this doesn't happen. First bank in my experience that's ever happened with.

    I suspect the automated fraud detection systems in place are run by third-party, not KB. I'm with KB for some of the same reasons in the article and comments above. Live and learn, but I wish a bank in this day and age - even a careful or cautious one like KB - could better facilitate the ubiquity of some card use.

    Chch • Since Mar 2009 • 4 posts Report Reply

  • izogi, in reply to Julian Melville,

    Thanks. I invoice an agreed rate in NZD and they pay me in NZD so I'm not too fussed about exchange rates, as they're talking any hit from that. I have suggested they could use something alternative but they prefer to pay direct from their account to mine. I've used NZ Forex a few times to bring my own AUD across at much better rates.

    I'm mostly miffed at why the bank on my side decides it needs to take $15 in exchange for getting more money to look after and invest in my account. Does the conversion get done on the receiving side and not the sending side? (I'm also miffed, as stated, about the lack of a clear record from ASB that it has actually taken $15, but that's another thing.)

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 1142 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to izogi,

    It’s because even if the client has done the FX conversion, it’s still an international transfer between AU and NZ.

    The clearing networks in the two countries are entirely separate (and usually, it being the same bank brand makes no difference, although I know that Westpac, for instance, has its own pathway for AU-NZ transfers, such as Australian companies with an NZ payroll). Otherwise its down to Swift, and “exotic” so you get stuck $15.

    You could shop around and see if any bank could set you up an NZD foreign currency account in Australia then use a third-party payment company to do your transfers. Or find an Australian contractor who works for an NZ company and swap your funds unofficially.

    Alternatively, if your client is large, it may be cheaper for them to send the funds on a "sender pays fees" basis - their bank might waive the fee for them.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Myles Thomas,

    We had the same problem with our KB MasterCard while travelling round Europe last year. A day into our trip it stopped working. We assumed it was a rural France thing and continued with our KB eftpos/debit card but in London that stopped working too. We were out of cash for a day and a half, couldn't take the kids to things we'd planned to in our short 3 day visit and were borrowing from friends.

    After battling time zones and call centre waits which are unforgivable, It turned out the MasterCard was blocked cos of dodgy transactions which is fine but they hadn't tried to contact either of us despite having all our ph numbers and email addresses (why do they collect them if they won't use them?) The debit card was blocked cos we spent over $1000 on a laptop and the bank thought that was suspicious though it allowed the transaction. Again no attempt to contact was made.

    Since returning we moved to ASB visa. It was easy to do and I recommend it.

    I think KiwiBank contracts it's credit card services from Shitty old MasterCard which explains the big difference in service.

    Auckland • Since Apr 2011 • 130 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to nzlemming,

    I don’t believe anyone’s saying “you should work longer hours because family” but, when you advertise your bank as equivalent to any other bank, you need to mean it.

    This. And I don’t think I’m a corporate tool for believing that if you’re going to offer a service (and charge handsomely for it) you should support it properly. Cue the first world problems eye-rolling (I sympathize) but David and I are going to London for a friend’s wedding in August, and will be stopping over in Hong Kong to visit family. And we're going to be on a very tight budget all the way. Don’t really want to miss a flight because we can’t close out a hotel bill.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • tussock,

    The basic problem credit card providers have is that they cover the cost of any fraud. If someone in Nigeria gets your card numbers and spends up to the limit on it that all goes on your provider and you don't pay anything.

    So they have dumb computer algorithms that block your card if it starts doing anything wildly outside your usual spending habits, like yours always works in Wellington and then suddenly buys a laptop in London.

    And when you call them and say, hey, I did really just buy a laptop in London, it's cool, a human unlocks your card for you again. Which they can also do in advance if you detail your travel plans for them it seems.

    I don't really see the problem. You get a wallet-sized no-fault piece of plastic that lets you buy anything in any currency anywhere in the world at any time without notice (where the people you're paying don't see any real money for a while) and the cost is they all try to not get constantly defrauded on that if that looks like someone might be stealing from them.

    Maybe just tell them your travel plans. Good luck when your next bank does exactly the same thing to you.

    Since Nov 2006 • 611 posts Report Reply

  • Nick D'Angelo, in reply to Stephen R,

    Yeah, I do the same. And I try to use my card as soon as I get home, so they know I'm back in NZ. And therefore that luxury handbag purchase in Hong Kong (not on my itinerary) can't be mine.

    Simon Laan • Since May 2008 • 162 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen R, in reply to Nick D'Angelo,

    And I try to use my card as soon as I get home, so they know I'm back in NZ. And therefore that luxury handbag purchase in Hong Kong (not on my itinerary) can't be mine.

    That's an interesting wrinkle I hadn't considered. Nice idea.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2009 • 259 posts Report Reply

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