The New Zealand banking industry is to begin a wide-ranging consultation on the future of paper cheques in the country.
New Zealand has one of the highest uses of electronic transactions in the world. The growth and expansion of this system over many years has seen the use of some traditional payment instruments, such as cheques, decline, says the Payments NZ Board, which is undertaking the initial consultation.
PNZ chief executive, Steve Nichols, says that paper (primarily cheque) usage in New Zealand had been declining at an annual average rate of nine per cent over the last eight years. Cheques interchanged through the financial system have reduced from around nine per cent of total retail transactions across all payments methods in 2003 to two per cent in 2010.
Other countries have recently begun to review the cheque as a payment instrument mechanism, including the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia.
Says Nichols: "It is time to undertake an orderly review of cheques in this country to determine the best way to manage the decline and ensure our payments system continues to be efficient and meet the needs of users."