Legal  tender money refers to money that is legally recognised as a valid form of payment and represents a claim on the central bank or government. (McBride, 2015). 7 Credit and debit card payments are very popular in New Zealand, with only 10 percent of the population using cash more than seven times a week.
From a financial stability perspective, it is important that the authorities responsible for macro-prudential policies should have (i) a well-defined mandate, (ii) clearly established long-term and intermediate objectives, and (iii) sufficient control over macro-prudential instruments that can be activated (or de-activated) in periods when risks to financial stability have been identified.