| Type | State-owned enterprise |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Products | Banking and financial services |
| Parent | New Zealand Post |
| Website | Kiwibank |
Kiwibank Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the state-owned enterprise New Zealand Post Limited. Through Kiwibank, New Zealand Post provides banking services through its PostShops (post offices) and joint venture Books & More and Papermate outlets throughout New Zealand.
The bank was initiated as part of Jim Anderton's Alliance Party policy in the 1999-2002 Labour-Alliance coalition government. Kiwibank is owned by the New Zealand government and the company's Board of Directors is chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger.
Jim Anderton revealed in his valedictory speech that after spending three hours trying to convince then Finance Minister Michael Cullen, Annette King told Cullen 'Michael, Jim's beaten back every argument against the bank we've ever put up, for God's sake give him the bloody bank.' Cullen replied 'Oh, all right then.'[1]
Kiwibank invested NZ$8m into a majority shareholding in New Zealand Home Loans, a home loan lender specialising in debt reduction, in June 2006.
Kiwibank has won the first five Sunday Star Times/Cannex banking awards, in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 for offering the best value across their range of products.[2] It has been seen by many to have brought a new level of competition in banking in New Zealand in terms of lower fees and growth in service.[3] Kiwibank has higher customer satisfaction ratings than the four large Australian-owned trading banks.[4]
Kiwibank's success is reflected primarily in its signup rate for new customers of over 300 new organisations and individuals per day (about 2100 per week).[5] Within the New Zealand financial institution context this is a significant figure: for the 'Big Five' retail banks (ANZ/National Bank, ASB, Westpac, BNZ), a typical year will result in a 0.2% increase or decrease in market share (deposit + lending values rather than number of customers).
In 2008, Kiwibank unveiled an advertising campaign, "Join The Movement", which parodied World War II resistance themes. The advertisements were denounced as jingoistic by rival banks, most of which are Australian owned.[6]
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