Closing the Gap in Access to Banking Across New Zealand

Tom Bayliss, Principal Adviser of Financial Inclusion, and Swastika Singh, Senior Adviser of Financial Inclusion, at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua, take us through their financial inclusion work programme focused on access to basic transaction accounts. This work complements the efforts of a group of New Zealand financial regulators, including the RBNZ, who are working together to close the gap in access to banking.

Historically promoting access to basic banking has been a key feature of the New Zealand financial system

In 1867, the New Zealand government established the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) to give everyday Kiwis (New Zealanders) an accessible way to save and connect with the country’s modernising financial system.

With a vast network of postal branches across the country, the state-owned bank quickly became a cornerstone of economic life. This was especially important for small towns and rural communities where banking options were scarce.

From just 2,156 transaction accounts in its first year, the bank grew to 2.5 million by 1964, almost the same size of New Zealand’s population at that time.

One of its most memorable initiatives came in 1927 with the launch of the School Savings Bank scheme. By 1966, it was operating in 90% of New Zealand schools, allowing children to open accounts with just a penny, and providing money boxes for kids to deposit and save money from their classrooms.

There’s a good chance most children who went to school in New Zealand between 1927 and up until 1989 (when the POSB was privatised), owned one of the school savings bank "books" — a small, sturdy case designed to look like a book, with a circular hole for rolled notes and a coin slot protected by plastic teeth to prevent tampering. For many young Kiwis, it was a rite of passage and a symbol of financial independence.

Fast forward to today, the landscape has shifted dramatically. More New Zealanders, especially young people and vulnerable groups, are struggling to access even basic banking services to make payments and receive an income.

The number of unbanked, those who do not have access to the mainstream financial system, is growing. We’ve been looking into the barriers that can make it hard for people to access the basics of banking to understand why issues are on the rise.

What’s changed in banking access?

While most countries across the globe are seeing improvements in access to banking, emerging evidence is showing that New Zealand’s unbanked population is growing.

Between 2014 and 2024, the World Bank’s Global Findex Database estimates that the unbanked population has grown to over 100,000 people, or 2% of the population.

While there are still gaps in accurate data, something the RBNZ is actively working to address, the direction is concerning.

This trend reflects major shifts in how banking is delivered and experienced. In contrast to the accessible, community-based model once offered by the POSB, today’s banking services are ...

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