Written response to Finance and Expenditure Committee on banking competition
19 Aug 2026
Payments NZ has provided a written response to the Finance and Expenditure Committee's inquiry into banking competition, following the Committee's July 2026 questions. The submission provides an update on Payments NZ's governance review and offers supplementary views on open banking implementation and future payments capability.
Governance review progressing
The submission outlines progress on Payments NZ's governance review. Following shareholder support at the 2026 Annual General Meeting, the Board has approved the review's Terms of Reference, completed a request for proposals process and is finalising due diligence before appointing an independent reviewer.
The review will independently assess whether Payments NZ's role, governance arrangements and participant representation remain fit for purpose as New Zealand's payments ecosystem evolves. It will consider changes including the transition of open banking to a regulated framework, payments modernisation initiatives and evolving participant models.
Open banking moving into an adoption phase
The submission notes that the API Centre helped establish the standards, governance and operational foundations for open banking ahead of the Customer and Product Data regime. As a result, standardised open banking services were operating before the introduction of regulation.
Our written response also highlights continued growth in adoption, with more than 362,000 open banking payments completed in June 2026 and total payment value exceeding NZ$100 million for the month.
Supporting the future of payments
Payments NZ also shares observations on future payments capability, including the importance of fraud prevention, customer protection, operational resilience and industry coordination as payments become faster and more connected.
The submission emphasises that New Zealand has strong foundations to build on, including trusted payments infrastructure, established open banking capability, common standards and industry collaboration. It also supports efforts to improve clarity and consistency across the payments regulatory framework.