Kiwibank To Begin Nationwide Rollout

Kiwibank branches will be opened across the country from Saturday 23 March. The nationwide rollout follows the successful pilot opening of seven branches in Palmerston North and Hawkes Bay.

The first branch of the nationwide rollout to open will be the Albany PostShop, in the Albany Mega Centre, North Shore, Auckland. The opening will be performed by the Chairman of New Zealand Post, Dr Ross Armstrong on site at 10am. Kiwibank Chairman, Rt Hon Jim Bolger ONZ and a number of invited guests and customers will also be present.

Eight Kiwibank branches will open for business the following Monday and 20 more will be operating by the end of the week. By the end of March there will be 36 Kiwibank branches open. It is planned to open 30 branches in the first week of April.

The rollout will continue throughout April, May and June. Details of branch openings will be provided each week following completion of shop refurbishments and staff training.

Kiwibank Chief Executive Sam Knowles said : "This really is a major development for Kiwibank. We've been through the crucial stages of developing the bank's systems and procedures. We've put everything through rigorous testing, we've received full registration from the Reserve Bank and for the last five weeks we've been fully operational in Palmerston North and Hawkes Bay.

"Now it's time for the really big step - opening across the country."

Mr Knowles said it was planned to open between 25 and 30 branches a week during the next two months.

He said next week there would be formal openings in Auckland (Albany), Wellington (Capital PostShop) and Christchurch (Cathedral Square PostShop) involving Mr Bolger and invited guests. Over subsequent weeks Kiwibank will also be holding functions in Dunedin, Invercargill, the West Coast, Northland and a variety of other areas.

"This is an exciting time for Kiwibank - the staff and the customers. We have been promising our arrival for so long, now we can deliver."

Mr Knowles said Kiwibank staff were already contacting people from its data base to set up appointments to open accounts and would be welcoming customers through the branches as they opened.

"The real challenge now is to help customers open accounts, set up home loans and organise Term Deposits as quickly and smoothly as possible.

"We expect there will be some delays in making appointments in the early stages of operating across the country, but the pilot programme has given us valuable experience in meeting customer needs."

Shops to be open during the next week are:

Saturday, 23 March 2002:

Albany North Shore, Auckland (official function 10am)

Monday, 25 March 2002:

Marion Square PostShop, Wellington

Te Ngae PostShop, Rotorua

Lambton Quay PostShop, Wellington

Takapuna PostShop, Auckland

Stoke PostShop, Nelson

Birkenhead PostShop, Auckland

Takaka PostShop, Nelson

Nelson PostShop, Nelson

Tuesday 26 March 2002:

Browns Bay PostShop, Auckland

Queenstown PostShop, Otago

Hamilton East PostShop, Hamilton

Orewa PostShop, Auckland

Capital PostShop, Waterloo Quay, Wellington (official function 10am)

Manners Street PostShop, Wellington

The Terrace PostShop, Wellington

Frankton PostShop, Hamilton

Whangaparaoa PostShop, Auckland

Wednesday 27 March 2002:

New Plymouth PostShop, Taranaki

Matamata PostShop, Waikato

Stratford PostShop, Taranaki

Cathedral Square Post Shop, Christchurch (official function 10am)

Christchurch Mail Centre PostShop

Cherrywood PostShop, Tauranga

Fitzroy PostShop, New Plymouth

Wanaka PostShop, Otago

Thursday 28 March 2002:

Alexandra PostShop, Otago

Greenmount PostShop, Auckland

Tauranga PostShop, Tauranga

ENDS

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