On 27 March 2025, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) announced that it has approved expanded access to the Exchange Settlement Account System (ESAS) for non-bank financial institutions. This will provide access to entities other than registered banks, including non-bank deposit takers and potentially payment service providers, to New Zealand’s gross settlement system for payments.
The announcement follows two public consultations last year on the review of ESAS access. RBNZ will be publishing the revised access policy, criteria, and the application process for phase one in the coming weeks. We will release a separate newsletter with more details once the information becomes publicly available.
In the meantime, the press release from the RBNZ is available here and more information about the public consultations can be found here.
Who needs to read it? Why?
The expansion of ESAS is important for non-bank financial institutions in New Zealand, including licensed non-bank deposit takers (NBDTs), payment service providers, and overseas deposit takers. Increased access could create new opportunities for these firms to enhance operational capabilities and financial services offerings. Registered banks should also stay informed of the developments, as the inclusion of non-bank entities in ESAS may lead to the introduction of new counterparties in payments transactions with different risk profiles and change the competitive landscape, impacting their business strategies and partnerships.
What does it cover?
ESAS is New Zealand’s wholesale real-time gross settlement system for payments. It is the system for processing and settling payments between banks and other financial institutions. ESAS is owned and operated by the RBNZ. Currently, only certain registered banks, licenced market operators and government entities have access.
The new criteria will open ESAS eligibility to more non-bank entities in two phases:
- First, to licensed NBDTs in New Zealand.
- Second, to other entities that meet the access criteria. This may include payment service providers, overseas deposit takers and operators of designated Financial Market Infrastructures.
The RBNZ states, "The revised policy and criteria will allow ESAS access and use to be broadened while maintaining the safety, efficiency, and integrity of this vital system." However, there is limited information on the access criteria at this stage. In particular, it is unclear whether the access criteria proposed in the second consultation paper has been adopted, such as the “net benefit to New Zealand” criteria for payment service providers. It also remains unclear whether accounts held by payments service providers will be entitled to OCR on account balances, an entitlement that the second consultation paper proposed to exclude.
What next?
The RBNZ is currently finalising the revised criteria and details, which will provide licensed NBDTs in New Zealand with information on how to begin the application process. It will also publish the submissions from the second ESAS access review consultation.
If you have any questions in relation to the development of ESAS access or are considering how these changes may affect your business, please contact one of our experts.
This article was co-authored by Leanne Chew, Solicitor in our Financial Services team.
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