Kiwibank

The New Zealand government owns the banking and financial services company Kiwibank Limited. As of 2023, they will have around 9% of the New Zealand banking market and rank as the country's fifth-largest bank by assets.

After a suggestion from then-Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton, the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand launched Kiwibank in 2001 to create a locally owned bank that could compete with the Big Four Australian banks that dominated the domestic market at the time. Established as a spinoff of New Zealand Post, its initial locations were embedded within post offices to increase its reach across the country.

Several aspects of Kiwibank are comparable to those of a previous government-owned bank that operated out of post offices in New Zealand. In 1867, the Post Office Bank of New Zealand was founded. PostBank was established as a distinct entity from New Zealand Post and Telecom New Zealand through corporatization in 1987. The government eventually sold PostBank to ANZ in 1989.

Founded: May 2001
Headquarters: Auckland, New Zealand
Website: www.kiwibank.co.nz