The story
Earlier state-owned banks
Kiwibank is similar in some respects to an earlier post office-based bank owned by the New Zealand Government. The New Zealand Post Office Bank was established in 1867. In 1987, the bank was corporatised and separated from New Zealand Post and Telecom New Zealand to form a stand-alone company – PostBank. Then in 1989 PostBank was sold by the government to ANZ.
Establishment period (2002–2010)
Jim Anderton revealed in his valedictory speech that after the issue had previously been discussed by cabinet for months, he had spent 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. Give him the bloody bank." Cullen replied: "Oh, all right then."
In 2008, one analysis suggested that Kiwibank had contributed to increased competition in the New Zealand banking sector through lower fees. Additionally, by 2007, Kiwibank had achieved higher customer satisfaction ratings compared to the four major Australian-owned banks operating in New Zealand.
In 2008 Kiwibank unveiled an advertising campaign, "Join The Movement", which portrayed foreign-owned competitors as enemy occupiers. The New Zealand Herald called the campaign "jingoistic".
Since 2010
Kiwibank announced an after tax profit of $21.2 million for the year ended 30 June 2011.
In 2012, Kiwibank celebrated its ten-year birthday. The advertising campaign used 10-year-old Kiwis pledging what they're standing up for with New Zealand musician Neil Finn agreeing to the use of his song "Can You Hear Us?" re-recorded by Jeremy Redmore of Midnight Youth. It was the first time the artist had allowed one of his tracks to be used by a commercial entity. The proceeds from the first 20,000 downloads of the soundtrack went to the NZ Music Foundation of which Finn is patron.
In 2012, the bank also released an iPhone mobile banking app, following the roll out of a redesigned Kiwibank website. Standard & Poor lowered Kiwibank's credit rating one level from AA− to A+ (outlook stable) and Kiwibank reported a record after tax profit of $79.1 million for the year ended 30 June 2012.
In 2014, Kiwibank launched its "Independence" advertising campaign where it "compares itself to anyone who has ever immigrated to New Zealand".
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In 2016, New Zealand Post announced the completion of the sales of 25 percent of Kiwibank to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and 22 percent to the Accident Compensation Corporation.
On 22 August 2022, the New Zealand Government purchased Kiwibank's holdings company Kiwi Group Capital Limited for an estimated NZ$2.1 billion. As a result, the Government acquired full control of the state-owned bank from the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, ACC, and New Zealand Post. In response to the Government's purchase of Kiwibank, KiwiSaver providers opined that the Government could have offered to partially sell shares to the public. The opposition ACT Party's leader David Seymour called for a partial sale of Kiwibank's shares to pension funds. Similarly, the opposition National Party questioned the Labour Government's ability to run Kiwibank.
In June 2024 the Commerce Commission filed 21 criminal charges against Kiwibank alleging systemic breaches of the Fair Trading Act 1986.
The alleged breaches related to issues causing more than $7 million in overcharges to over 36,000 customers for fees and interest rates in relation to home loans, credit cards and overdrafts, over several years dating back to 2002. In mid July 2024, Kiwibank pleaded guilty to charges of "systemic breaches" of the Fair Trading Act 1986.
Bid for TSB
On 25 August 2026, Kiwibank's parent Kiwi Group Capital Limited made a bid to purchase Taranaki Savings Bank (TSB) from its parent, the community trust Toi Foundation. Heartland Group Holdings, owners of NZX-listed Heartland Bank had a bid before the Toi Foundation to purchase TSB at the same time, leading commentators to describe Kiwibank's bid as an "eleventh hour", which chairman David Mclean described as "... asuperior proposal" and that Kiwibank would be the "better partner" for TSB.
From Wikipedia’s article on Kiwibank, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5