Understanding how Kiwi consumers pay - 2022 survey insights

30 Nov 2022

An important part of the work that we do with the industry to ensure Aotearoa New Zealand has world-class payments is to look into current consumer trends and habits. This is why, as a follow-up to the consumer research we conducted in 2020, we‘ve once again partnered with Yabble to gain the latest insights into consumer preferences, attitudes and behaviours regarding making payments in Aotearoa – today and into the future.

This research has been done as part of our wider Payments Direction strategic initiative – a programme of work which looks into what the industry needs to do to prepare for and contribute to the evolving future of payments. In this survey, we asked Kiwi consumers to share their views across a range of areas, including how they might expect to pay in the future, and what’s important to them when thinking about the future of payments.

As a new addition in 2022, we also asked people to comment on how they feel about their financial resilience. A quarter of respondents indicated they would be unable to pay for a major unexpected expense, and over a third indicated they are unsatisfied with their level of savings.

Some other highlights from the trends we uncovered include:

  • A high proportion of people would like faster sending of payments (43%) and to receive payments faster (57%).
  • 82% of respondents find the prospect of real-time (instant) payments appealing.
  • Familiarity with the term ‘open banking’ has increased slightly since 2020, but most remain unfamiliar with what it means (76%).
  • Almost 9 in 10 people are concerned about data sharing, with the highest concerns being getting hacked and information being used for purposes beyond what was expected or agreed to.
  • 84% of respondents are using contactless payment methods, but only around half use it consistently.

For more key insights from this research, download the infographic below.  You can see our 2020 consumer study results here.