Help & Support

To open a non-personal account for an incorporated or unincorporated group or society, we’ll need to know more about it and the key people that are involved and/or associated with it.

Groups and societies may include sports clubs, parent/teacher associations, volunteer organisations, social groups, schools, body corporates, church groups, and marae.

Open an account

Documents required

To open an account for registered groups, including incorporated societies or registered charities, you’ll need:

• A certificate of incorporation (for an incorporated group or society); and
• Meeting minutes, signed by at least two key people and dated within the last 12 months. The minutes need the name and address of the group, and who will be operating the account.

To open an account for all other groups, you’ll need:

• Meeting minutes, signed by at least two key people and dated within the last 12 months. The minutes need the name and address of the group, and who will be operating the account.

If your controllers, managers, or board consist of other organisations (such as trusts, companies, partnerships, or overseas registered entities), we’ll need foundation evidence for those organisations too. More about non-personal organisations

ID and proof of address

We’ll need ID for all the key people involved in the group or society. For registered groups there must be a minimum of three people. They can prove their identity using one of three ID combinations

Key people may include:

• president
• chairperson
• secretary
• treasurer
• other group members that hold key positions
• other group members that need to hold account ownership or access to the accounts.

Each key person’s ID needs to be verified. Ways to verify ID include:

• face-to-face in a BNZ branch
• certified in writing by an approved trusted referee
• online through RealMe or with photos of your ID.

Countries of tax residence

If you, your organisation, or any key people are tax residents in another country or countries, we’ll need tax numbers or an equivalent for those countries.

Find out more about confirming your tax residency

For more information, please talk to your tax adviser or visit the Inland Revenue website

Adding, changing, or removing an authorised person

We’ll need to collect and verify identification information for any new authorised person, and they may also need to fill out additional forms.

Call us on 0800 275 269 to make changes to your account.