Submission on Petition of Benjamin Sims
19 Jun 2026
Payments NZ has submitted a response to the Petitions Committee | Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Petihana on the petition of Benjamin Sims, which calls for mechanisms to automatically block purchases of age-restricted goods by under-18-year-olds.
We recognise the deeply tragic circumstances behind this petition and extend our heartfelt condolences to the Sims family. Our submission was prepared with care and considers both the policy objective of preventing harm and the role of the payments system in achieving that outcome.
Key points from our submission
- Protecting young people is important, and we recognise the intent behind the petition.
- Payments systems are not designed to determine what is being purchased or whether a purchase should be permitted.
- Responsibility for age verification currently sits with retailers and regulatory frameworks, where appropriate checks can be applied at the point of sale.
- Implementing payment-level restrictions would raise important questions relating to effectiveness, privacy, accountability, operational complexity and cost.
- Future payments modernisation may enable new capabilities over time, but any expansion into payment-level controls would require clear policy direction and coordinated system design.
Looking ahead
Payments NZ's view is that there may be more effective ways to achieve the policy objective of preventing under-age purchases.
In particular, electronically verifiable Digital Identity capabilities have the potential to provide a more direct and reliable means of confirming a person's age, both online and in person. These solutions are designed specifically to verify eligibility at the point of sale.
More broadly, this petition highlights the importance of considering how different parts of the system work together to prevent harm – including retailers, regulation, identity and payments.
You can read our full submission to the Petitions Committee here.