Payments NZ has been working with the Banking industry on a significant core payments system project to extend the processing of electronic payments to 365 days a year. This upcoming change will mean Kiwis will be able to receive as well as send payments between banks every day of the year. We’re pleased to announce that 365-day payments will start being available in Aotearoa New Zealand from 26 May 2023.

This change is a further evolution of Aotearoa’s payments system, enabling more flexibility for individuals and businesses to pay or be paid any day they want, including weekends and public holidays.

Payments in a changing world

We now live in a world that’s highly connected, always on and is underpinned by continuous economic activity. Customers expect fast, accessible, and uninterrupted services across all industries and sectors, regardless of the day of week or time of year.

Moving electronic payments (such as automatic payments, bill payments and direct credit payments) to 365 days a year will help meet these evolving customer expectations. A major payments system initiative like this forms one of the key building blocks for us to modernise payments across the ecosystem. It is part of a greater body of work we’re doing that sets out a future view of our payments ecosystem to 2030 and identifies what future capabilities are required so we can continue to meet the changing needs of Kiwi.

By moving to 365-day payments, commerce will no longer have to wait for a traditional business day to be completed. Businesses providing services over weekends and public holidays could see improved cashflow. Extending availability will also create opportunities for more innovation, allowing businesses to have the opportunity to look at ways to innovate within their business model.

More details are available from the Payments NZ Q&A page here

It will affect how Direct Debit Payments are treated, below is how the BNZ will handle them.

• Direct debits will only be paid if there are sufficient funds in the account.
• We’ll be funds checking direct debit payments as soon as the request is received – this could be as early as 9am – and we’ll keep trying to make the direct debit payment throughout the day.
• If there’s insufficient funds in the account at 11:45pm, the direct debit will be dishonoured.

It may be worth checking with your own Bank to see how they will handle Direct Debits once the new approach is in place.