Been in NZ for just over 4 years. The AU/NZ banking system is way out ahead of the US in my experience. Instant acct-acct transfers even on weekends. Hourly posting for bank to bank transfers. Better online experiences. Most of the big banks, and kiwibank, offer good free expense tracking and budgeting software ala mint.. I really hate having to deal with my US accounts :|

Even here in the banana republic called Thailand I can do instant transfers from my account in one bank to my own or someone else's account in another bank. I can do it by phone, at an ATM or online. I too loathe interacting with my US bankings.

BTW, any issues or threats by your US bank to close your account because your are living abroad? It's going around.

My account keeps getting deactivated because I don't make purchases from it with a debit card or check; I have to call online services and have it reactivated every few months :(

Do you know a free way to transfer cash from aus bank to nz bank?

I want to buy from www.lastseason.co.nz without getting stung.

OzForex? CurrenciesDirect? There are many similar exchange agents: You transfer to their bank account of country 1, they transfer from their local bank account in country 2, avoiding international transfer fees. Few days, less than 1% away from the Google rate, unbeatable.

Australia and NZ have different currencies so there is no way you can avoid dealing with the money changers. There was a bit of debate a few years back about if Australia and NZ should form a single currency, but it did not seem to get far.

https://transferwise.com/u/0aa62 will do it for $5ish. That's my referral link.

Edit: BankWest in Australia has a no-conversion-fee Mastercard.

Depends how much you want to move :)

I used Tranferz a few times when I moved from Aus to the US. Free for over $5000 last time I checked.

http://www.tranzfers.com/Referral/matthodge

I live in Canada but visit the US at least once a year. Nearly every grocery store and restaurant has NFC terminals now.

We're constantly blocked from access to great online content and we can't order products from the US without great expense. But the moment I step foot on US soil and try to buy something, I feel like I'm in the credit card dark ages.

It's funny, we have all these NFC credit card terminals, but Apple Pay still hasn't launched here.

> It's funny, we have all these NFC credit card terminals, but Apple Pay still hasn't launched here.

I mean, "it can do the same thing your free debit card could two years ago" is kind of a weak marketing pitch, so maybe that's why they're not prioritizing it...

Instant payments. It takes 0-4 seconds, no pin, everyone saves time

Yeah, so, like, the same as contactless credit/debit cards, only it can run out of battery

Yes, in Canada virtually every major bank issued debit or credit card for the last several years has supported NFC. There's different branding depending on the card - Interac Flash (debit), visa paywave, etc. But all use the same terminals.

No PIN, tap and go, no batteries.

With little user benefit, I'm assuming banks are reluctant to sign on to give apple a cut.

Oh yeah, many places accept NFC cards. However most (anecdotally) banks do not issue cards with NFC support.

My old Amex Blue supported NFC 4-5 years ago, which was super rad. None of my current cards, however do.

I'm in the opposite situation - recently moved back to the US after many years living abroad. Not having Chip & Pin or those neat wireless card terminals is weird. Signing for everything just feels so archaic!

I paid for something at Walgreens with my iPhone today via ApplePay, and a middle aged woman stopped me and asked why the cashier just let me go. The idea of paying for something with a cell phone was not within her ability to comprehend. That it was safer than using a swiped credit card was so far beyond the pale that I think it gave her vapors.

And yet you guys have Apple Pay and we don't. It's "coming real soon" to the three shopfronts in the country that still take Amex.

With [the absolutely fantastic] Paywave / Paypass now just about completely ubiquitous here in Australia, and supported by a good few smart phones to boot, why on earth would we want Apple Pay? They've truly missed the boat here.

The main advantages are security (you can't use a card without a TouchID fingerprint scan to unlock) and being able to easily use multiple cards on the one device.

The second user advantage is a drawback to most banks (they'd rather you carry just their card, rather than be able to switch easily), so that might also be a contributing reason for not signing up for Apple Pay.

>why on earth would we want Apple Pay

If you are an iPhone user, and many folks happen to own iphones, that would be the reason.

The credit card companies here will send you an NFC chip to stick on your phone cover if you are into that sort of thing.

Sadly very few places support Apple Pay. And some credit cards make it a royal PITA to use with AP.

The thing is in Australia, we have near ubiquitous support for contactless payments so when Apple Pay launchs here it'll be supported _everywhere_ on day one[1]

[1] Well, the tech will be supported. Whether the business will accept amex or not is another story...

We (Aus) and especially NZ (due to population size / spread I assume) are often the testing ground for tech advancements like this. Once proven and stable, they are rolled out to the rest of the world.

In this case I think it's more that there are only 4 banks in Aus so making a change like chip cards is much less like herding cats than it is in the US.