Payments moving to 7-day processing
- One-off and bill payments.
- Tax payments.
- Automatic payments.
- Direct debits.
- Direct credit and payrolls.
7-day payment processing
From Saturday 27 May 2023, payments between New Zealand banks will be processed every half hour between 9:00am and 11:45pm, 7 days a week. This means you’ll be able to send and receive payments on weekends and public holidays.
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What to expect
Some types of payments will be moving to 7-day processing, while others will continue as business days only. Some of our account and facility features will also change.
Payments remaining as business days only
- Same-day cleared payments (high value transactions, such as house settlements).
- Foreign exchange payments to and from other countries.
- Voluntary payments to your BNZ KiwiSaver Scheme or YouWealth.
- Scheduled repayments for BNZ term loans.^
Changes to interest and fee calculation
The move to 7-day payments changes how interest and fees are calculated and credited or debited for some transactional accounts, savings accounts, and overdrafts.^
Direct debit payments
When you set up a direct debit with a company, that company will arrange a date and time to request payment from your BNZ account. From 23 May 2023, direct debits can occur any day, including on weekends and public holidays.
We’ll only process a direct debit payment if there’s enough money in your account by 11.45pm on payment day. If not, the direct debit will dishonour (it won’t be paid). Consider adding enough money to your account the day before.
The company receiving the direct debit (the payee) might charge you if the payment dishonours. If BNZ is the payee, charges will apply for non-payment of our credit cards and personal loans.
You can change the date of a direct debit. You’ll need to arrange this with the payee ahead of time.
Automatic or upcoming payments
Any automatic payments created before 22 May 2023 will continue to be sent on business days only, unless you change them.
From 22 May 2023, if you create a new automatic payment or make changes to an existing automatic payment schedule, this will be paid on the actual day you select, even if this is on a weekend or public holiday. This means you can set up an automatic payment for a specific date each month.
Account and facility interest and fees
From 27 May 2023, interest and facility fees will be calculated differently for some transactional accounts, savings accounts, and overdrafts.^
Depending on the type of account or facility you have, there may be minor updates to the terms and conditions. We’ll let you know about the changes by public notice and, for some products, by letter or email.
Please note: no interest rates are changing as a result of the move to 7-day payments.
Calculating interest and fees
Interest and monthly fees will be calculated using your account balance at the end of each day, 7 days a week. This applies when we calculate both credit interest (where we pay you) and debit interest (where you pay us).
For example: You have a savings account. You deposit funds on Saturday. Before 27 May 2023, we calculate Saturday’s interest based on Friday’s account balance. From 27 May 2023, a deposit on Saturday will also earn interest.
Crediting and debiting interest and fees
We’ll process monthly interest and fees when each bank month ends,^ even if it ends on a weekend or public holiday.
For example: You have an overdraft. A bank month happens to end on Friday. Before 27 May 2023, overdraft interest and facility fees for the previous month are deducted on Monday (your overdrawn balance increases on that day). From 27 May 2023, this occurs on Saturday instead.
What business owners can expect
If you’re an Internet Banking for Business customer, you can choose to have automatic payments sent on business days only. Other things you may need to think about:
- updating any of your systems to reflect the change, where you’ll now receive payments 7 days a week
- if you need to let your customers know you’ll start accepting payments every day
- if you plan to change the days you receive payments, you might want to review your customer contracts or marketing material.
Set up notifications for your payments
To help you keep track of payments coming into or out of your accounts, or any retrying payments, you can choose to get free push notifications through the BNZ app, Internet Banking, Internet Banking for Business, or email.
Other helpful information
For more information about payments moving to 7 days a week, visit paymentsnz.co.nz