This information is related to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Keeping Cash Local (KCL) consultation. It is designed to provide further information to stakeholders and interested parties about questions raised during the consultation. The consultation is open until 31 July 2026.
If you have any questions relating to the consultation, please email [email protected]
Summary
On 25 February 2026 the RBNZ opened the Keeping Cash Local consultation (the ‘consultation’). The purpose of the consultation is to ask the public for feedback on a proposal that banks provide a minimum level of cash services so people, businesses, and community groups can have local access to withdraw cash, deposit cash, and swap cash for low-denomination banknotes and coins.
There has been strong interest in the consultation with more than 5000 responses so far. The consultation deadline was extended to 31 July 2026 to allow more time for people and industry to respond and for the RBNZ to share further materials. No decisions on the consultation have been made, and we welcome a range of views on the proposals outlined in the consultation.
On 24 April we published some information about the legal basis of the consultation proposal.
The additional information we are releasing today also provides responses or further context to the 14 requests received by the RBNZ under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) about the KCL consultation. Some of these responses have been published on the RBNZ website as part of our regular publication cycle, here Responses to Official Information Act requests.
Additional information
- Emails about Access to Cash and KCL from 26 February 2025 to 06 March 2026 (PDF, 4.2MB)
- 24 Nov 25 RBNZ Letter to Banks – Current and future initiatives to support New Zealander’s access to cash (PDF, 722KB)
- RBNZ Briefing #6336 – Addressing NZ’s cash system challenges (PDF, 440KB)
- 22 Jan 26 PSOC Paper – Keeping Cash Close to Home (PDF, 637KB)
- RBNZ Aide-Memoire #6343 - Meeting with RBNZ officials on cash system issues (PDF, 664KB)
- 28 Jan 26 Minister of Finance and RBNZ Meeting Agenda (PDF, 696KB)
- RBNZ Aide-Memoire #6350 – Upcoming release of Keeping Cash Local consultation paper (PDF, 608KB)
- RBNZ Keeping Cash Local Consultation Communications Plan (PDF, 2.3MB)
- 02 June 26 RBNZ Response to official information requests OIA2526_166 & OIA2526_168 (PDF, 759KB)