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Providing your personal information

Opening a new account

When you open an account with us, you (or anyone acting on your behalf) will need to provide some personal information so we can verify who you are, where you live, how you intend to use your accounts, and your tax residency status.

If you’re setting up a business account or a more complex entity such as a trust, you’ll need to provide additional documentation, e.g. foundation documents and evidence of the source of your funds.

If you’re unable to provide some or all of the information we need, we may not be able to open an account or maintain a banking relationship with you.

We’re obligated under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) to collect this information, to help us detect and deter money laundering and terrorism financing.

Customer due diligence

If you’re already a customer, we’ll sometimes need to review the documentation we hold, and contact you to check if your information is still correct. In some instances, we may need more information about transactions you (or someone else) have made to your account. This could include information on unusually large transactions, or transactions that appear to be outside your normal banking activity.

This is part of our ongoing customer due diligence (CDD) to make sure we meet our obligations under the AML/CFT Act, and so we can better protect you against impersonation and fraud.

Confirming your information

You may receive a letter or email from us asking you to urgently provide documentation about you or your business, to avoid having some of your accounts deactivated or closed.

Emails will come from bnz_ocdd@bnz.co.nz or customer_information_team@bnz.co.nz.

Examples of the documentation we may ask you to complete

If you don’t provide the requested information, we may be required to apply restrictions to your accounts, or close your accounts if we don’t receive the information within a specific timeframe.

To confirm your information, you’ll need to:

  • review the communication you receive
  • supply all relevant documents and information, which can be sent to us by:
    • replying by email with scanned copies of the documents that have been verified by a trusted referee;
    • or visiting any BNZ branch with the original documents.
If you’re living overseas

If you’re living overseas, you can use a person who is authorised by your local government to authenticate and verify your documents. To confirm who is authorised to verify documents, generally known as a Notary Public, you’ll need to check your local government’s website for more information.

More about collection of information

For information on BNZ’s privacy practices, including how we collect, use and disclose your information, please see our Master Privacy Policy.

For information about banks’ anti-money laundering obligations, visit the Banking Ombudsman website or the Reserve Bank of New Zealand website.

Contact us

If you have any further queries in regards to providing your personal information, call us on 0800 275 269.