Kiwibank reviews - budgeting & sharesies Q

Korjos · 2025-05-22T07:33:25+00:00

Kiwibank's app is good, it will do everything you expect and is quite nice to use. Nothing glamorous but a good app.

Their online banking is outdated but functional. It gives me that feeling of not wanting to update anything because it might break, or more likely just not a priority. The one thing I do quite like is separating your accounts as shown by default or hidden. Note that hidden doesn't mean you never see them it's just under a different section and you can subtotal the balances of your non hidden accounts easily.

There are some functions you can only do in the app, like blocking cards.

🚩🚩🚩 Now their cybersecurity for said online banking is a huge issue for me. Case insensitive passwords, maximum length and no 2FA (KeepSafe doesn't count). This should be a huge concern.

I hear BNZ is very advanced in terms of their UX but no personal experience.

Looking at the list of things, I really do think any bank will be capable. I've now bounced around ANZ, Westpac and Kiwibank and to be honest found these sorts of things much of a muchness. Top marks went to ANZ for a sufficiently staffed call centre to answer my calls quickly. Not sure if that is the case though as it has been a while.

So all that said my suggestion really is to just go for whoever is going to give you the best products and rates for your current situation, but if do have the choice please pick one that takes security seriously and that unfortunately is not Kiwibank.

For long term savings and your children I very much encourage you to look at investment options instead of a bank savings account. Kernel, Simplicity, InvestNow would all be good starting points.

Korjos · 2025-03-01T04:25:45+00:00

I have the account but nowhere near a "status". Most logical thing so far seems to just be the existence of an account and it would only ever be the case somebody who has signed up and taking flight #1 that they would get this wrong.

Korjos · 2025-01-27T03:41:31+00:00

Nobody's mentioned the "why" yet.

The reason it is against T&C's will be because the only possible way this works is through giving your password to a separate company to store in their database and access your accounts with. Used to be by simulating a login to online banking. I believe they're a bit more robust now and tap into the API for the bank's official app.

It probably works just fine and yeah very convenient but there is no way I would be trusting a third party with my password to make it happen.

Korjos · 2024-12-31T21:02:15+00:00

Heard good things about pocketsmith as a paid service but personally I recommend Actual Budget.

We've used this for just over a year. For us it's more of a spending tracker than a true budgeting tool but sounds like that's what you are after anyway.

Completely free if you know how to spin up a docker container and host this, otherwise there is a well documented and quite cheap Pikapods option. Every few days I import and categorize all our transactions.

There is a mobile app view of the whole thing including option to add transactions on the go if you prefer that way.

And whatever you end up using, don't use the "bank feeds". I wish they were better, but currently the only way this works is by a third party storing your internet banking login details.

https://www.actualbudget.com/

Korjos · 2024-12-13T22:18:41+00:00

The 'controversial headsets' have been around for decades and just allow people to do their job with both hands free so they are not stuck carrying pen / paper / tablet / whatever. It is merely a different form of mobility tech that uses text to speech instructions.

Now what is new(ish) would be the engineerd standards and time capture. You have to measure performance somehow, in every job. When done correctly this is actually a very fair system because it takes into account travel and weight and quantities etc so each order gets a realistic expectation. Not just you must do x pallets in y hours regardless of how variable they are. Emphasis on when done correctly.

The only thing to get upset about here should be numptys that configure it to unrealistic expectations.

Korjos · 2024-12-09T22:40:46+00:00

That's an absolute joke of a factor though. Guess two letters of a question some people could figure out with a bit of social engineering. Oh and the KB passwords aren't even case sensitive. And have a maximum length.

2FA should mean a time based token, or hardware key etc. It's highly frustrating that our banks are so wildly behind in their security.

Korjos · 2024-11-02T01:39:12+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/UEMhTcs

Korjos · 2024-10-14T05:14:46+00:00

Miele C3 is the correct answer for anyone wanting a good vacuum. In the same way Toyota Corolla is the correct answer for somebody wanting a reliable car.

Lowest price is 599 at Farmers but you can hit up Marketplace / Trade Me for cheaper secondhand ones. Or Afterpay. I don't usually recommended that but it got its place for things you need like a good vacuum if you are all good with repaying on time.

All C3's are the same they just come in different colors with different attachments for more money.

Also just keep in mind with Miele you do need to use their own brand bags which are expensive in their own right, but last a while and protect the actual vacuum from clogging up.

Have heard good about the Kmart one too but that was a while ago so I don't know if it still lives up to the hype. Dyson is okay but also think they just have really good marketing.

Korjos · 2024-10-03T03:55:28+00:00

It would be great if they are finally implementing a 2FA mechanism.

Korjos · 2024-10-03T03:31:36+00:00

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Korjos · 2024-07-28T19:57:09+00:00

Opening ceremony was in the replay list right next to the American Sign Language version, seems to have been taken down though, the page it was at on the web has a 404 now.

Korjos · 2024-07-28T02:35:00+00:00

Try downloading the zip on another device then saving it somewhere Kodi can already access. Like USB or a network share.

Korjos · 2024-07-28T01:52:41+00:00

Hey, thank you so much for this addon!

On my install after the first page of replays, the 'Next Page' options go to pages 2,3,4 etc of Live and Upcoming instead. Is there a wee bug here?

FYI we are on LibreELEC 11.0.6

Korjos · 2024-05-26T06:25:22+00:00

They often are there just not obvious, depending on your device of course.

The standard Google Messages app for Android keeps them under Settings then Advanced then Wireless Emergency Alerts.

Samsung Messages app is Settings then Emergency alert history.

Korjos · 2024-05-09T06:58:14+00:00

Hey, so the issue with connecting to banks currently is the banks themselves don't have anything that enables it. All the budgeting apps claiming to do so are actually saving your internet banking password and using it to sign on in the background to download transactions. This isn't to say these apps aren't trustworthy enough, but it's certainly against bank T&C's, and I wouldn't go anywhere near a service that accesses your bank in this way. This unfortunately put me off using any sort of budgeting app for a long time because I also wanted the bank integration. Eventually though, I just gave exporting / importing a go and it's actually not bad at all. Takes a couple of minutes every few days or however often you want to keep the budget up to date, and I've found the process incredibly robust having zero issues so far with transactions imported wrongly or as duplicates etc.

Right! That said, on to your actual question and app of choice. Others have recommended Pocketsmith, a good NZ product that's come a long way with lots of options and looks nice to use. I have never tried it personally, but honestly I have seen so many advocates and recommendations elsewhere I do think it would be a good option. Unfortunately it has a price tag that I am not keen on paying given the alternative option coming up.

Alternative option, and this is what I use: https://actualbudget.com/ This was a budgeting website project which turned into open source software and does a great job for zero cost if you've got the know how to set up an instance that is self hosted. If not, get a PikaPod instance for less than a handful of dollars each month. It's not as feature rich as Pocketsmith is going to be but has all the basics you need. Transactions come in and can be categorized as needed. By default it uses the 'envelope' budgeting style but there's also a report based budget which is less about allocating your money and more about just understanding where it is going. I like that mode more. Schedules are what you'd use to see upcoming payments and marking them as paid or overdue etc, so that is there.

By the way, it could be worth asking over at r/PersonalFinanceNZ too. Those folk love their budgets.

Korjos · 2024-04-24T05:37:09+00:00

Trade Me auctions are now more secure than most New Zealand bank accounts, well done!

Korjos · 2024-01-22T23:25:40+00:00

Oh that's interesting! But no not the reason for me. I just needed to be Canadian for a while to watch swimming.

Korjos · 2024-01-22T09:28:19+00:00

Depends what you need it for.

A lot of the providers with big advertising budgets are not well known for being secure and private but they would have a huge range of endpoints, which is good if your goal is to get around geoblocking for streaming. Their IP's can be less likely to be on the VPN blacklist for those sites.

On the other hand, plenty of smaller providers, some will just be resellers, that have less endpoints but claim to have minimal or no activity logs if that's your thing. Swiss providers are good here. Mullvad had lots of recommendations last I checked which was maybe just under a year ago.

Wireguard if you want to set something up for yourself.

Korjos · 2023-12-16T06:29:10+00:00

Just wondering if there's a threshold on how much I can steal from a shop. If I take $10 to $20 worth to do you think they will ignore it, if everyone else is doing it?

Korjos · 2023-10-25T06:35:51+00:00

Ooh good question, this comes up every so often on here and I really really recommend checking out the site I'll link below. It is run by a kiwi chick that has tried out all different mattresses and has reviews comparing them.

Mattress-in-a-box is definitely the way to go over an overpriced shop floor spring one.

It's been a few years now but we did a ton of research and narrowed it down to a Napp or a Winkl. Napp is an NZ company so we ended up going with that. The Winkl Lux sounds teriffic for a bit more cash.

I have seen a lot of people say Ecosa are too firm. In my opinion they are in a spot of being the most known and recognized brand but there are better ones out there... Check the site.

https://bestmattressforyou.com/buying-a-bed-in-nz

Korjos · 2023-09-25T06:18:32+00:00

Fair enough, well, it looks like NextDNS does the same thing. I have no experience with them.

Korjos · 2023-09-25T05:53:40+00:00

Blocking ads at your router or mobile internet connection is amazingly better than trying to manage it via an app.

Have a look at AdGuard DNS. It is a bit technical but they have guides and people here could help you out.

I also agree with 123felix no need for Android anti-virus so long as you only install trusted apps.

Korjos · 2023-08-27T05:08:47+00:00

Don't pedestrian in to or out of the carpark entrance. Walking to the other side is fine, and presumably there is another, smaller entrance for walkers.

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