RBNZ Seeks Feedback to Determine Cash System Redesign

As part of our series of articles around the world to assess the growing trend to digital payments and what these countries are doing to ensure ongoing access to cash in a less-cash world, this month it’s the turn of New Zealand.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) began investigating cash use and the systems that make cash available in 2017, trends in cash demand and the cost pressures on the commercial supply of cash leading to the conclusion that cash will likely become less widely available and used less in the medium to long term.

The effects of less cash in society would be felt more keenly by certain groups of people who rely on it and for whom no practicable substitute exists. The severity of these impacts would be worsened if the transition to a society with less cash acceptance occurred before mitigating measures could be put in place.