25 February 2026 – We are asking the public for feedback on a proposal that banks must provide a minimum level of cash services so people, businesses, and community groups can withdraw cash, deposit cash, and get change free-of-charge close to where they live.
Public consultation on this cash services standard opens 25 February 2026 for 6 weeks, closing Friday 10 April 2026.
We propose that people living in urban areas should face only a walkable distance to withdraw cash, deposit cash or get change, while people living rurally should only face a reasonable driving distance. People should not have to face unreasonable wait times either and cash services should be free of charge. We want to know if New Zealanders agree with how we are approaching this.
“We believe banks must provide cash services to customers, free-of-charge, because cash is an essential part of a customer’s relationship with their bank. People put money into their bank accounts and expect to be able to convert it easily, quickly and free, into cash and vice versa,” says Ian Woolford, Director of Money and Cash.
“The public expect banks to provide cash services to them, but banks have been steadily reducing points of access for their customers to get cash, bank cash or get change, especially in rural areas. We want this to change, and we are open as to how. This consultation proposes one way to make this happen.
“District maps show what this proposal could mean for each of the 66 territorial authorities (excluding the Chatham Islands). It assumes banks share cash infrastructure, as they already do at the 5 remaining ‘New Zealand Bankers’ Association regional banking hubs’.
“We estimate the benefits of our proposal far outweigh the costs, as giving the public an appropriate level of cash services provides benefits to New Zealand of $2.83 billion per annum, at an additional annual cost to banks of around $104 million. This cost is negligible when compared to the more than $10 billion annual pre-tax profits earned together by the banking sector,” says Mr Woolford.
Many countries have or are introducing similar new laws to ensure adequate access to cash services, including the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
“Cash benefits society, as it is used for economic, social and cultural reasons, and as the steward of cash we are focussed on ensuring the cash system is healthy and available,” says Mr Woolford.
Research shows 72% of small businesses would be adversely affected if cash was unavailable as a means of payment. Our own survey tells us that over 80% of adults use cash sometimes, over half (56%) store cash and 8% rely on cash as their sole means of payment.
More information
Learn more about the public consultation: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=99d5bdd1e6&e=f3c68946f8
Download our consultation materials on the CitizenSpace website: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=8545551296&e=f3c68946f8
Cards and convenience reign supreme in Aotearoa | research by Xero: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=d05c229929&e=f3c68946f8
2023 cash use survey (PDF, 1 MB): https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=b0dc7aff96&e=f3c68946f8
In this report, we asked respondents how many times they had used cash to pay for everyday items in the past 7 days. We used the results to measure and estimate the proportion of people who use cash at least occasionally.
