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Community cash service trials

He whakamātautau i te pūnaha moni a-rohe

We’re trialling new ways to help retailers bank takings and get change in rural communities lacking over-the-counter bank or ATM cash services. We're also ensuring their customers can readily get cash-outs with or without purchase.

Learn about the trials

This research project, funded by the Reserve Bank, recognises the important role of retailers in the cash system.

Options being trialled include us paying retailers for readily providing fee-free cash-outs to customers with or without purchase, and providing local cash deposit and change withdrawal facilities for retailers.

The trials are expected to start in 2025 in 6 to 9 communities in different parts of Aotearoa New Zealand. Each community has a population between 1,000 and 10,000 people and has lost most or all bank-provided counter and cash services. 

Our research will run for at least 12 months to inform future work to support cash use and the cash system. An independent research provider will monitor and evaluate the trials. 

The project is being managed using an agile approach, which means that timing and other details may change as planning and implementation continues.

Timeline

What's coming up

September 2024 In Progress

Arrangements for trials

We're getting ready for the trials by working with community representatives, service providers and our research partners.

December 2024

Final trial communities announced 

2025

Roll-out and other details to come

Frequently asked questions

Cash allows individuals and groups to trade easily and instantly with each other. It supports cultural customs such as koha, family, community, and business life.

We know that about 6% of the population rely on cash to live their lives, and these people tend to be among more vulnerable groups — for example, the young, elderly or disabled. They may not have a bank account or online access for a variety of reasons.  People who rely on cash are also more likely to live rurally or be Māori.

Most of us want to have the option of paying in cash and do use it occasionally.  We also know that it’s a great back-up option when power and data essential to digital payments are down, as seen during extreme weather events.

While there is a continuing trend away from cash towards digital payments for everyday transactions, we know that some of that is driven by provider incentives to pay digitally — for example, points programmes or disincentives to deal in cash — for example, removing cash services from branches, increased travelling time to remaining branches or ATMs, and reduced opening hours. 

We know people value the option of using cash, even if they don’t use it very often. We want to explore how best to keep that option available. The trials enable us to explore new ways of providing cash services in a cost-effective way.

Digital cash would be another form of central bank money to circulate alongside cash, and not a replacement for it. We want central bank money – whether cash or any future digital cash– to be widely available and accepted.

Central bank money provides a state-backed alternative to money held in commercial bank accounts which rely on the strength of the bank concerned. 

Central bank money also provides a marker of value for the New Zealand dollar, helping make sense of prices, and what private money is worth and can be exchanged for.

Learn more about digital cash

No, our trials will avoid communities where NZBA is piloting 7 community banking hubs. We are supportive of the NZBA hubs work.  This is testing models for shared banking shopfronts, while our experiments are focused on keeping cash working in under-serviced communities, so we don’t want these two different and important experiments tripping each other up.