About the New Zealand Dollar
The New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand and several Pacific territories, issued by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. It has floated freely since March 1985, and in the market it is known as the "kiwi".
Dairy, meat and other farm products make up a large share of New Zealand's exports, so the kiwi often moves with global food prices, and with demand from China and Australia, its main trading partners.
New Zealand was the first country to give its central bank an explicit inflation target, in 1990. The Reserve Bank aims to keep inflation between 1% and 3%, and announces its interest rate decision seven times a year.
Paying in NZD
- Account number format
- New Zealand does not use IBANs. An account number has 15 or 16 digits, written as bank, branch, account and suffix, for example 12-3456-0123456-00. Payments from abroad need it together with the bank's SWIFT/BIC code.
- Domestic clearing
- Payments between New Zealand banks are settled in batches through the business day, so a transfer made in the morning usually arrives the same day.
- Bank holidays
- New Zealand has its own public holidays, such as Waitangi Day (6 February) and Matariki (June or July), when banks are closed. Payments due on those days settle the next business day.
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