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A big change has now been introduced to the way payments are processed in New Zealand, with domestic electronic transfers having moved from business day to everyday processing. This means that from you can now move money between New Zealand based banks 365 days per year, including weekends and public holidays, between 9am and 9.30pm. This change does not impact international payments or large financial transactions such as house settlements.

With this change now in place, it's important to know when your Direct Debits and Automatic payments will be withdrawn and ensure you have enough funds to cover payments that may come out any day of the year. This will help you avoid any potential fees or charges for insufficient funds. The cut off time to ensure your Direct Debit payment is not dishonoured is 1pm on the day it is taken from the account. If we have your mobile number, in the event your account has become overdrawn due to insufficient funds when a direct debit comes out, we will send you a message to let you know.

 

Frequently Asked Questions
 

To begin with, 7 day payment processing has been put in place for everyday transactions such as electronic transfers, automatic payments and direct debits.

More involved and larger value transactions, including international transfers and house settlements have not been affected at this stage.

 

Payments that have moved to 7-day processing

  • One-off electronic transfers
  • Bill and tax payments
  • Automatic payments
  • Direct debits
  • Direct credits

 

Payments that still processed on business days only

  • House settlements and other large value transactions
  • International transfers

 

Payment processing times on weekends and public holidays continue to be similar to what you previously experienced when transferring between banks on business days. Payments between banks are usually completed within a couple of hours, provided they are initiated before the daily cut-off time. All banks have different cut off times - SBS Bank's is currently 9:30pm for outgoing payments.

7 day processing only affects the days that you are able to receive payments between banks. Payment processing times continue to be similar to what you previously experienced when transferring between banks on business days.

Starting Saturday 27th May, 2023, any direct debits you have set up on any of your accounts may be taken out on a non-business day. It is important to know when your direct debits will be withdrawn to ensure you have sufficient funds to cover any payments that may come out on weekends moving forward.

If you don’t have enough funds in your account to cover the direct debit on the day it is due we will attempt to contact you via SMS. If the payment is not funded by 1pm on the due date it may be dishonoured or put your account into unauthorised overdraft.

All automatic payments set up before Monday 22nd May, 2023, will continue to be sent out on business days only. These existing automatic payments will only be affected if you make changes to them.

From this date, any new automatic payments will go out on the day of the week you select during set up, with the option to select either Saturdays or Sundays. All automatic payments set up or changed from this date will always be processed on that day of the week, including public holidays.

Automatic payments are made from your account in the early morning on the due date. If we can't process you payment due to insufficient funds we will retry the payment at 9am. The payment will retry for three days. 

Any payments made to an incorrect account number or closed account will be immediately returned to the person who initiated the payment. When their funds are back in their account they may make the payment again.

Payments to SBS Visa Credit Cards sent before 9.30pm will be processed to your account the following day.

 

The biggest change for consumers is that from the 26th of May 2023 you will be able to move money between New Zealand based banks 365 days per year, including weekends and public holidays.

These changes also mean that both direct debits and automatic payments will now be processed 7 days per week. To prepare for this, it is important to know when your direct debits will be withdrawn to ensure you have sufficient funds to cover any payments that may come out on weekends moving forward.

7 day payment processing is not the same as real-time payments. 7 day payment processing means that you will be able to move money between New Zealand based banks 365 days per year, including weekends and public holidays. Real-time payments are where payments are received instantly by recipients at another bank, similar to the way money moved between accounts at the same bank are processed and received instantaneously.

Currently payments between banks are only processed on weekday's, excluding public holidays. This changes means that banks will now process everyday transactions such as electronic transfers, automatic payments and direct debits 365 days per year, including weekends and public holidays.

The move to 7 day payment processing is an exciting change for SBS Bank Members. It means that you will no longer have to wait until weekdays to make and receive electronic payments, and public holidays will no longer affect processing. It also provides more certainty around when payments such as direct debits will be paid from your account, as it will not change based on public holidays or other external factors.