The Reserve Bank is doing its once-every-two-year survey to understand how New Zealanders use, store and spend cash. Photo: 123RF
As Kiwis' cash use comes under scrutiny, shopkeepers and emergency savers are among those quietly preserving a place for physical currency.
At present, the Reserve Bank is doing its once-every-two-year survey to understand how New Zealanders use, store and spend cash.
Dunedin residents, unscientifically surveyed by RNZ on Tuesday, said they were using cash for everything from groceries to public transport, pocket money, cheese rolls and, in Sheryn Wilson's case, to give to the less fortunate.
"Occasionally, I'll get out $20 in change and give it to my granddaughter to give to the people along here. That's basically all I use it for. To give the homeless... but that's it," Wilson said.
Physical money remained second preference to using a bank card, although she believed it was worthwhile to have a backup stash for emergencies.
"It feels strange now to use cash. It feels old-fashioned and kind of dirty," she said.
Clive Cockle said he always carried cash but tended to default to swiping his card.
He said he also kept at least a few dollars for emergencies.
However Daniel, who did not want his last name identified, said he actively avoided cash to try to restrain his spending.
"I find it hard to save money if I've got cash lying around - I'll just spend it straight away. If I've got cash, every time I open my wallet, it's gone," he said.
Clive Cockle said he keeps at least a few dollars for emergencies. Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
This year, the Reserve Bank's random postal survey would ask people how they preferred to pay, how often they used cash, how easy it was to deposit and withdraw coins and notes, and whether they stored cash - and why.
Reserve Bank's cash manager Ian Woolford said people's habits were shifting.
The last survey found fewer people using cash day-to-day, but those who did used it more often and more people said they valued it for privacy and safety.
"The work that we're doing is to make sure that consumers - citizens - can use it when and as they please," he said.
The Dairy and Business Owners Group said it was becoming harder for shopkeepers to manage cash.
Chairperson Ankit Bansal said some people were relying on dairies for small cash withdrawals when there were not banks nearby. But the reduced number of bank branches and the increase in 'cashless' banks made it hard for shopkeepers to maintain a float.
Bansal said stores needed easy bank access because holding money on site was a safety risk.
"Banks - this is their job. Essentially we're seeing them picking and choosing what services they're providing. So I hope to see some action on the banks," he said.
Retail New Zealand chief executive Carolyn Young said cash was on the way out, although not in the near future.
Fewer than one in ten nationwide retail transactions were now in cash, she said.
"It's certainly always diminishing, but how long that tail is, we're not sure," Young said.
Shopkeepers were not supportive of New Zealand First's recent members' bill, which would require making it mandatory for stores to take cash for purchases up to $500, she said.
"Retailers... understand that cash is important, but they don't want to be dictated - that it's mandated. Part of it is what do people want and how do we make sure that that's working. It's not broken at the moment. We don't think that it's necessary," Young said.
Jamie Jermain, the co-founder of the SquareOne app that helps children understand finance and managing their money, found some children didn't know what cash was.
He said a tool kit was needed to teach children about money and it's value when cash is increasingly invisible in a digital world.
"In this day in age, what kids are getting more and more used to seeing is their parents essentially tapping this magic wand on a terminal. They [young people] don't have that connection with money, they don't see how it works on a day-to-day basis," Jermain said.
Educating children on how to earn, save and responsibly spend money is crucial for learning good money habits when children get older, Jermain said.
"Those lessons are with them for life," he said.
The Reserve Bank's survey closes on 10 October.
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