Banking services

What's covered

The All-of-Government (AoG) banking services contract covers Crown transactional banking services available to core agencies, foreign exchange services, payment services (merchants), card services, and non-core transactional banking services available to non-core agencies.

Core Crown transactional banking services

This service is provided by Westpac only. It covers:

• Opening and maintaining transactional bank accounts including crown, departmental, trust, foreign currency, and term deposits
• Transaction processing including cash, automatic payments, direct debits, direct credits, bill payments, international payments, and same day cleared payments
• Crown consolidated cash management process, and
• Transactional banking exception services.

Non-core transactional banking services

This service covers:

• Opening and maintaining transactional bank accounts (including domestic and foreign currency and term deposits)
• Hierarchical sweep services
• Over-the-counter cash processing
• Bill payments and electronic payment processing, direct debit initiation, same day cleared payments
• Set-off services
• Interest optimisation services
• Trust management services.

Foreign exchange services

This service covers:

• International direct credits (ACH)
• International payments
• Telegraphic transfers and international money transfers
• International drafts
• Foreign currency cash.

Payment services

This service covers:

• Merchant acquiring services for processing, authorisation and authentication of credit and scheme debit card transactions for card present and card not-present environments
• Online payment gateway services
• Cash processing (including over-the-counter services).

Card services

This service covers:

• Issuing, processing and authorisation of physical and virtual cards. For example, credit cards, pre-paid cards
• Transactive global platform services
• Card management system services.

How it works

All eligible agencies including schools can access and buy card services, foreign exchange services, and payment services as detailed on the banking services providers page.

Banking services providers

Transactional banking services are offered under two separate sub-categories:

• core Crown transactional banking services (provided by Westpac only), and
• non-core transactional banking services.

Only core agencies subject to the Crown’s consolidated cash management process are eligible for core Crown transactional banking services. The separate sub-category of transactional banking services is available to non-core agencies.

Banking services list of core agencies

Features and benefits

AoG contracts offer many advantages when compared to making other arrangements through the open market.

Any goods and services involved with these contracts have had their prices negotiated at scale, which allows for contract-specific benefits to be arranged (such as minimum discounts, capped margins, or arranging savings through bulk purchases). Suppliers and providers connected with AoG contracts have gone through commercial vetting and panel selection processes, so agencies can be confident that pricing is fair, risks are managed, and reliable services can be delivered.

Performance, service levels and agency satisfaction for suppliers and providers are monitored by our contract team, ensuring the contract is always fit for purpose. Agencies and schools get access to support for day-to-day assistance and resolving issues.

Since agencies don’t need to manage these contracts or run their own procurement processes, they can free up staff and resources for other purposes.

The banking services contract includes the following:

• Providers that have undergone commercial, legal and data security vetting, to give agencies cost visibility and confidence that risks have been assessed.
• Agreements negotiated to be more balanced and favorable to agencies than standard bank terms. They have stronger protections, reduced risks, and a minimal need for additional legal reviews.
• Access to multiple banking providers with different service offerings and pricing models. The contract is flexible enough to add new subcontractors, product innovations and emerging technologies over time.
• Cybersecurity, privacy, and financial and operational risk assessment and monitoring from our banking team, so agencies don’t need their own specialist risk or cyber capabilities.

Savings

Savings vary across sub-categories and providers, and will depend on an agency's banking services purchasing profile and specific requirements.

Cost recovery

Most AoG contracts include an administration fee. This fee is a simple, effective and transparent way of recovering the cost of developing, sourcing, implementing and managing AoG contracts.

The AoG banking services administration fee is only payable by core agencies, and is collected for the core Crown transactional banking services subcategory. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) invoices the administration fee to core agencies annually, in advance, with the fee payable by automatic payment in equal monthly instalments (unless otherwise agreed with MBIE).

If your agency is a core agency, more information will be provided directly. There is no administration fee for non-core agencies – including schools – or for any of the other sub-categories.

Notice - Banking security review

All the banks on the AoG banking panel have participated in a security review. The review looked at:

• the security and integrity of the banks' IT environments across the different AoG services
• whether key security controls have been configured, implemented, and are operating effectively within banks' IT systems.

Service security certificates have been issued for each of the banks.

If you want to view these certificates or if you have any questions, contact the AoG banking team.

Joining this contract