The New Zealand Reserve Bank are appealing for submissions for using digital currency

https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/money-and-cash/digital-cash

1: Introduction The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Te Pūtea Matua (Reserve Bank) is investigating a digital form of cash. Digital cash is a type of central bank digital currency. Just like physical cash, it would be issued by the Reserve Bank and be trusted and safe. It would also protect people’s privacy, and anyone could use it without needing a bank account.

Our work on digital cash is a multi-year and multi-stage process. We have not decided to issue digital cash. We first consulted on digital cash in 2021. We published the Future of Money – Central Bank Digital Currency Issues Paper (2021 Issues Paper) and received a wide range of views. We are now sharing our latest thinking on what digital cash could look like in New Zealand. We describe what we mean by digital cash and how New Zealanders could use it. We also describe why the Reserve Bank is investigating it, and what it would bring to New Zealand.1

We want your feedback on our judgments and design options for digital cash. This will inform our future work on whether digital cash is right for New Zealand. Digital cash will not replace physical cash.

2: What is digital cash? Digital cash would be a new form of cash issued by the Reserve Bank to the New Zealand public. Digital cash would be: - denominated in New Zealand dollars (NZDs). It could be swapped 1:1 with physical cash, and other forms of NZD, like money in your bank account. - private, secure, and able to be trusted – the Reserve Bank will not control how you spend your money. - available to everyone and distributed by the private sector – but you would not need a bank account to use it.

Our focus in this consultation is the use of digital cash by individuals. You could use it to do new things like make an instant digital payment to anybody. You could also make payments without connecting to internet. Central bank money currently comes in two forms: Physical cash in banknotes and coins, and reserves. Cash is available to everyone, but only certain financial institutions can hold reserves at the Reserve Bank. Central bank money is a claim on the Reserve Bank, and ultimately on New Zealand’s government. Digital cash would be a new form of central bank money and can be thought of as moving cash online.