, Auckland, New Zealand, also serves as a branch of Kiwibank.
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.
Since 2010 in Shirley, Christchurch 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 2016, New Zealand Post announced the successful 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 Holdings 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. ==Core business activities==