BNZ, ANZ, ASB and Westpac have joined with local banks Kiwibank and TSB in agreeing with the New Zealand government to hold off closing regional bank branches for 12 months while a trial into shared regional banking hubs is run. As part of the trial, beginning early next year, four regional hubs offering basic banking services will open in Opunake, Martinborough, Stoke and Twizel, with the running costs shared between the banks. The banking hubs will provide basic transactional services like cash withdrawals, deposits and account transfers. They will all have a multi-branded Smart ATM and online banking facility, along with a support person to provide guidance and assistance. Finance Minister Grant Robertson thanked the banks and Bankers Association for working with the Government on the trial. Tyro has linked more than 16,000 of its Australian merchant customer base to the Alipay payments platform. Under a deal announced on Monday, Tyro-managed Eftpos terminals are now equipped to read Alipay wallets which use QR codes. Tyro CEO Robbie Cooke said Tyro merchants were now positioned to win more custom from Chinese tourists. "The Alipay QR-Code displays on our EFTPOS machines, which means there's no need for additional hardware or a third party to settle transactions - that's also how we can settle transactions the next day."