ANZ Bank

Another step in getting established in NZ, we set up banking yesterday. if feels a bit odd going outside of Wells Fargo, but I suppose as their closest branch is in San Diego, CA, we'd better try elsewhere.

ANZ (Aussie and NZ Banking Group) is the Fourth largest bank in Australia and the largest in New Zealand. They're headquartered in Melbourne and have branches in virtually every town over 5,000 on the North and South Islands. It appears that banks operate similarly in perspective to US banks, with a high relience on debit cards (EFTPOS cards in NZ) and a wide network of ATMs.

As a bonus, the US Dollar is on a rebound and yesterday passed 150% the value of the Kiwi! (That's a 30 cent swing since our visit in March!) For an interesting graph, check out Google Finance: USDNZD.