Featured Advertorial: ANZ pulls out stops to give RWC fans access to cash

Ready access to cash through ANZ Bank at the Rugby World Cup. Photo /Supplied

Featured content supplied by the ANZ for nzherald.co.nz

With record numbers descending on New Zealand for Rugby World Cup 2011, ANZ is going to great lengths to make sure fans have ready access to their cash on match days.

Big crowds will be the order of the day at match venues across the country, and the bank is urging fans to get out any cash they need before the game in order to avoid match-time queues.

ANZ will deploy additional free-standing ATMs within the Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin stadiums and the Auckland Fanzone, along with cash-out facilities in and around match venues, as well as innovative new mobile ATMs housed in customised cargo containers to provide high-capacity, uninterrupted access to cash for the thousands of expected fans.

ANZ will also extend the opening hours at branches along the walking routes to the stadiums in Auckland and Wellington to ensure convenient service for match-bound customers.

Banknotes will be in heavy demand in and around busy stadiums, with cash the only accepted method of payment for food and beverage purchases at most matches, and MasterCard also accepted at stadiums in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin.

ANZ New Zealand Managing Director Retail Kerri Thompson says: "Rugby World Cup 2011 is the largest event to ever be held in New Zealand".

"As a Worldwide Partner and Official Bank of Rugby World Cup 2011, ANZ New Zealand understands that attending a match will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many fans. We are doing everything we can to ensure people can relax and concentrate on Rugby, rather than worrying about getting stuck in a queue or running out of cash.

"The extra cash facilities we're providing at venues across New Zealand, are designed with the enjoyment and convenience of match-goers in mind. With unprecedented numbers of fans expected, we urge people to make the most of these and plan ahead and, if they need cash, to get this before the match."

ANZ has three mobile ATM containers, each with four ATMs. The units were specially designed for Rugby World Cup 2011 to be easily transported around the country. They will also be practical solutions for use at future concerts, festivals and even natural disasters if and when the need arises. The containers enable up to 12 ATMs to be quickly deployed at an event. They are guarded whenever they are deployed, providing a safe and convenient way for people to access their cash.

Designed to cater for high transaction volumes, the ATMs are completely self-contained with no reliance on external power or communications. Each mobile ATM container comes with satellite communications and a generator on board.

The units were successfully trialled at Mystery Creek Field Days in Hamilton in July, opening the way for their use at Rugby World Cup 2011.

"These ATMs demonstrate our ongoing commitment to innovation and bringing service to our customers, wherever they are and whatever they're doing," Kerri Thompson says.

About Rugby World Cup: Rugby World Cup has provided the financial platform for investment and growth in the Game. The net RWC 2007 surplus of £122.4 million has underwritten a range of major funding initiatives, including annual national Union grants and Strategic Investments via the £48 million programme between 2009-2012 focusing on increasing competition across the global Game. The total invested by the IRB during the period will be £150 million.

Rugby World Cup 2011 in Zealand will be attended by over 1.6 million spectators and watched by a global TV audience of well over four billion in more than 200 countries. For more information visit www.rugbyworldcup.com.