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Highlights
- Cash use by New Zealanders has declined sharply during the pandemic
- Only 63% use cash as against 96% in 2019
The number of Kiwis using cash is declining sharply, according to a new survey by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ).
Just 63 % of New Zealanders now use cash, the RBNZ's 2021 Cash Use Survey has found.
That’s a big decline from 2019 when 96 % of Kiwis used cash. The Cash Use Survey is the third in the series, after 2019, and 2017.
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Meanwhile, the survey has also found that it is becoming increasingly important for Kiwis to have some cash stored away during times of uncertainty and that has increased from 37% to 46%.
Related Read: New Zealand central bank raises OCR by 25 bps, says more tightening ahead
However, cash users are finding it more difficult to find places to deposit cash.
Further, the Survey found that for those New Zealanders who did use cash, 40 % of those did it only twice a week. This sharp decline in the use of cash is partly due to the pandemic and partly due to more electronic modes of payment.
Also Read: Business confidence slumps on Omicron worries: ANZ Survey
The number of Kiwis who relied on cash remained at 6%, but the drop in paying with cash was significant.
People who relied on cash were mostly in poorer segments and Maori people. Even the older people, it was found, still relied on cash. Maoris were using cash also for cultural reasons.
The RBNZ said in its report that it was looking at redesigning the cash system and has a long-term project underway. The central bank is looking at various ways of keeping cash available as its usage declined.
Some options included asking some merchants and government bodies to use cash. “The Reserve Bank was committed to keeping cash available for as long as it is needed”, the deputy governor of RBNZ, Christian Hawkesby had said earlier
