Canstar Announces the Best in Business Bank Accounts 2022

Congratulations to KiwiBank the winner of Canstar’s inaugural Bank of the Year | Business Bank Accounts Award.

And kudos, too, to BNZ and Heartland Bank, for taking out our awards for Outstanding Value Business Transaction Accounts and Outstanding Value Business Savings Accounts, respectively.

Bank of the Year | Business Bank Accounts Award

For the inaugural Bank of the Year | Business Bank Accounts Award, Canstar assessed seven eligible banking institutions. Each was rated across their performance in our two Outstanding Value Business Accounts categories:

• Outstanding Value Business Transaction Accounts
• Outstanding Value Business Savings Accounts

Plus they were scored on our research findings into the levels of Customer Satisfaction they deliver to their business clients.

Coming out on top of this year’s rankings, winning our Bank of the Year | Business Bank Accounts Award is Kiwibank.

Ultimately, it’s Kiwibank’s performance in our Outstanding Value Business Savings Accounts star ratings that earns it Canstar’s first Bank of the Year | Business Bank Accounts award.

Kiwibank’s far superior interest rates put it ahead of the competition, and are supported by low fees and free electronic transactions.

The bank’s focus on competitive pricing is reflected in its Customer Satisfaction scores, too. In our research, Kiwibank ranks highest for Value for Money, which is one of the strongest drivers of overall satisfaction in business banking.

Kiwibank also tops our ratings for Fees & Charges and Interest Rates, two other important drivers of customer satisfaction.

For more on Kiwibank's Bank of the Year | Small Business win, click here!

Outstanding Value Business Savings Accounts & Transaction Accounts

To discover NZ’s Outstanding Value business bank accounts, across both transaction and savings profiles, this year our team researched 23 banking products from seven providers:

Based on the results of our analysis, the banking products were awarded our Star Ratings, the best earning our prestigious 5-Star awards across three categories:

• Business High Transactor– business customers who make an average of 100 transactions per month
• Business Low Transactor – business customers who make an average of 40 transactions per month
• Business Saver

And, for the first time, this year Canstar has awarded the best performing institutions our top awards for Outstanding Value:

Award	Winners
Outstanding Value | Business Transaction Accounts
Outstanding Value | Business Savings Accounts

Business Transaction Accounts

This year’s research covered 14 Business Transaction Accounts, from our seven providers. Each account was scored across the following categories:

As ever, competition among transaction accounts remains tight. However, one of the main points of difference is the fees charged.

A few outstanding business transaction accounts charge zero fees for electronic and manual transactions. Others offer a large number of free transactions per month to offset any fees that would otherwise be charged.

However, while ANZ and BNZ are neck-and-neck on price in our Star Ratings, what puts BNZ ahead, as winner of our Outstanding Value | Business Transaction Accounts award is its range of account features. BNZ has consistently shown it is one of, if not the strongest, banks in this area, thanks to its comprehensive digital banking platform.

Also worthy of special mention in this year’s Star Ratings is Kiwibank, which has again placed itself in the upper echelon, thanks to its competitive digital platform, free electronic transactions and low monthly fee.

Outstanding Value Business Transaction Account Star Ratings

Business Savings Accounts

Across all banking, savings rates have started to increase, albeit from a low base, following the recent cash-rate hikes. And the Heartland Bank continues to dominate in this market due to its superior rates.

This year, Heartland is one of only two providers to receive a 5-Star rating for Business Savings Accounts, now that long-time rival Rabobank has ceased offering business deposit accounts to new customers.

This year’s award follows on from Heartland Bank’s top 5-Star rating last year, demonstrating the financial institution’s continued focus on providing the best savings rates in the market.

Although it misses out on our top award, Kiwibank also merits special mention. Alongside Heartland, it’s the only other bank to earn a top 5-Star accolade in our Business Savings Accounts Star Ratings.

Over the past year, it has dramatically improved its deposit rates, earning Kiwibank second place, just behind Heartland Bank.

Outstanding Value Business Savings Account Star Ratings

About the author of this page

This report was written by Canstar’s Editor, Bruce Pitchers. Bruce began his career writing about pop culture, and spent a decade in sports journalism. More recently, he’s applied his editing and writing skills to the world of finance and property. Prior to Canstar, he worked as a freelancer, including for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority, and for real estate companies on both sides of the Tasman.