The best exchange rates are usually from banks - BNZ, ANZ, Westpac, Postbank and The National Bank have branches in towns of any size and are open from Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm except for public holidays, while some city branches stay open on Saturday until around noon. Outside banking hours, you'll have to rely on bureaux de change in the big cities and tourist centres, which are typically open from 8am to 8pm daily. If you get caught short, the larger hotels will often change travellers' cheques at any time, but rates tend to be poor.

If you are spending some time in New Zealand - say a couple of months or more - you may want to open a bank account . The ease of doing so can depend largely on the whim of the bank clerk, so shop around: having a New Zealand address you can use for statements helps (though isn't always necessary), and you'll need a couple of pieces of ID. The ANZ and BNZ banks seem particularly helpful and maintain an extensive network of branches and accessible ATMs.

The big advantage of having an account is that you can get money from branches and ATMs using a cash card , the same piece of plastic doubling as an EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale) card. This enables you to pay for stuff at shops, service stations, restaurants, in fact just about anywhere, by swiping the card and punching in your PIN (Personal Identification Number). Almost everywhere will also give you cash, so you can go for weeks without visiting a bank, which has to be a good thing.