I use:
a/ Kiwibank for some rainy day emergency access fund term deposits (these are PIEs),
b/ Westpac for my cheque (yes they still call it that) account,
c/ TSB for my instant access cash money interest paying call account, TSB again as a holding pen for some reinvestment money (currently on one year term deposit) for an investment that came good a few years back, but I am nevertheless in the process of redeploying (it is taking a while) AND
d/ ANZ for a foreign currency term deposit AND for my VISA card
I should make it clear that Westpac at the time (around four years ago I think) refused to cash an overseas cheque -for the equivalent of $1500 IIRC-, on my behalf. But this was not a general policy, as they would cash such cheques for other people at the time. The teller basically screwed up her face, went and checked with her supervisor and simply said they were not going to cash my cheque,
The excuse was that because I didn't have my salary going into the account (even though I didn't have a salary at the time, and hadn't had for twenty years previously- I did irregular contract work-, but nevertheless had several other payments adding to tens of thousands of dollars going into the account every year) i.e. it was my main everyday bank account. Westpac just weren't prepared to extend their overseas exchange facilities to me on that day. I had cashed cheques from the UK like that before with Westpac and none had ever bounced or caused any trouble. I was not in any form of disagreement with the bank on other matters which may have been brought to a head by this 'outrageous request' (cashing an overseas cheque). There were quite a few thousand dollars in the account at the time (i.e. I wasn't a rats and mice customer that they were serving out of 'duty'). Suffice to say I was rather stunned at having my overseas cheque rejected. And given the teller I was facing had consulted with her manager, this was clearly bank policy to no longer process 'difficult' requests from customers like me, not the actions of a 'rogue' teller. When I protested and threatened to close my account and leave the bank, the teller just said 'off you go then' with a stoney face. Quite frankly, I was floored at my treatment.
I guess they thought that my threat to close my account was just an empty threat, and with 'life' getting the way, so far it has been. But the dismantling of the Westpac nationwide branch network, even more so than the other big banks, has been the final trigger in me actively arranging to leave. That and charging me $25 for every transaction when paying a bill outside of internet banking (which I don't have). I am going to ANZ for my current account now. But even then it is not an easy process. I have to wait forty days for an appointment, even though I am a current ANZ customer!
Finally, just to keep on thread topic, you can probably see why I wouldn't open a Heartland account, while Westpac is their everyday banking agent. And this is not just my opinion. If you look at independent consumer customer satisfaction surveys:
https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles...on-survey-2022
"Westpac stood out for the lowest satisfaction rating this year (54%). It scored significantly below average for branch service: 20% of customers were dissatisfied, compared with the industry average of 14%. It also had the lowest rating for phone, branch and mobile banking. Of those who had a problem with Westpac in the past 12 months, 69% said it was handled poorly."
Westpac comes in dead last for retail customer satisfaction, and has done for many years.
SNOOPY
P.S. Sorry about the rant. But I feel better now!