Payments Direction

Find out about our cornerstone strategic work programme, helping industry understand and respond to the changing payments landscape.

Since 2015, Payments Direction has brought together industry participants, stakeholders and experts to explore emerging trends, opportunities and challenges affecting the future of payments in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

As payments become increasingly important to the economy and more closely connected to regulatory, policy and technology developments, Payments Direction provides a forum for industry collaboration, strategic insight and informed engagement on the future of the payments ecosystem in Aotearoa.

The programme has helped establish the strategic foundations for major industry initiatives including open banking, 7-day payments and next generation payments, by working alongside industry participants, regulators and stakeholders to support a more coordinated approach to payments modernisation. 

By bringing together research, insights and industry perspectives, Payments Direction helps identify evidence-based opportunities to strengthen the payments ecosystem and support long-term outcomes for consumers, businesses and the wider economy. 

What has Payments Direction delivered over the years?  

Since 2015, Payments Direction has helped bring together industry participants, regulators, government agencies and other stakeholders to explore the future of payments in Aotearoa. This collaborative work has helped inform major industry initiatives including open banking, 7-day payments, payments modernisation planning and next generation payments. 

Through this programme, our team has delivered strategic plans, research and insights, opportunity assessments, exploratory investigations, and tested payment system and ecosystem-level innovations. These foundations have helped shape several major initiatives including open banking through the Payments NZ API Centre, 7-day payments, digital identity investigations and our next generation payments work. 

Working with regulators and the industry, our role is to lead strategic direction, facilitate industry collaboration and support a shared understanding of future ecosystem needs, priorities and opportunities.

The programme has also built a substantial body of industry knowledge and strategic insight about the future of payments in Aotearoa, helping industry better understand emerging trends, future capability needs, modernisation opportunities and international developments. 

We engage broadly with Participants, Members, regulators, Government agencies, stakeholders and international counterparts as part of the programme. Get in touch with our team to find out how to get involved with our work or share your thoughts.  

Our current priorities  

Payments Direction continues to help shape a future payments ecosystem that is innovative, resilient, interoperable and focused on better outcomes for New Zealanders. 

Our current work is focused on developing an ongoing future ecosystem view, strengthening industry coordination and helping inform long-term decisions about payments modernisation across Aotearoa. 

We are bringing together industry participants, regulators, government agencies and stakeholders to explore future ecosystem needs, dependencies and opportunities, helping build a more connected and strategic approach to investment and delivery. 

This work includes developing a system map of capabilities today and in the future, understanding how existing systems can support modernisation both now and into the future, and evaluating common ecosystem services and supporting alignment across related industry modernisation initiatives.

We share milestone updates regularly through our stakeholder communications and welcome participation from organisations and individuals interested in contributing to future discussions and initiatives. 

What is the purpose of Payments Direction? 

New Zealand's payments system provides reliable and trusted payment services today. However, customer expectations, technological change, regulatory developments and broader economic priorities continue to shape the future payments landscape. 

Payments Direction helps industry develop a coordinated and informed view of future ecosystem needs, opportunities and dependencies. 

By bringing together industry expertise, research and strategic insight, it supports informed engagement with regulators, government and other stakeholders, helping ensure future decisions are grounded in practical experience and a system wide perspective. 

How we do our work  

Our team works closely with organisations and people across the payments ecosystem and wider business community. We engage through workshops, working groups, committees, industry events and stakeholder discussions to understand different perspectives, test ideas, share insights and support more coordinated thinking across the sector. 

As the payments environment continues to evolve, we also work alongside regulators, government agencies and other stakeholders to share industry insights, contribute evidence based perspectives and support constructive dialogue on payments modernisation.

The groups we regularly engage with include: 

• Representatives from our Participant banks  
• Representatives from our Member organisations  
• Industry groups, including standards bodies, professional associations and business forums 
• Special interest and community groups  
• Non-profit organisations with an interest in payments 
• Local councils and affiliated organisations 
• Regulators  
• Government officials  
• Payments experts and leading academics 
• International counterparts, including other payments associations 

We also contribute to industry conversations by sponsoring, hosting and speaking at industry events. These activities help build alignment, support coordinated delivery and contribute to informed discussion about the future of payments in Aotearoa. 

Our work is supported by our Participants and Members, and we bring together the payments ecosystem to collaborate, contributing their time, insights, perspectives and relationships to the work we do.    

Want to know more or get involved?   

To receive updates about our work and be kept informed on progress and new opportunities, please sign up to our Payments Direction mailing list. You can also sign up to receive more general Payments NZ news and updates including our weekly Top Reads newsletter.  

If you’re interested in being more directly involved with our work, contact our team who will get back to you soon.  

The future of payments will be shaped through collaboration across industry, regulators and stakeholders. We welcome those who would like to contribute to industry discussions, working groups and future initiatives that help shape the payments ecosystem in Aotearoa.