NZ financial sector a step closer to offering open banking

New Zealand has taken a step closer towards open banking with the launch of two new standards which will enable third parties to work with banks to launch new financial services for the public.

In the future, open banking could allow people to use one mobile phone app to see all their banking, insurance and KiwiSaver data in one place.

But before that happens, banks have to agree on how to share that data in a secure way through interfaces known at APIs or Application Programming Interfaces.

Payments NZ has been running a pilot with three banks — ASB, BNZ and Westpac — as well as Paymark, Datacom and Trade Me to develop two standardised APIs which involve payment initiation and account information.

Steve Wiggins, chief executive of Payments NZ, said the trial had now finished and the APIs were now market ready.

“The market will now have a common basis to deliver more new and improved payment solutions for Kiwis as the service evolves and the ecosystem grows.”

Wiggins said it had about 90 parties which ranged from global players to startups looking at using the API standards.

Organisations who want to use them will have to sign up to the service for a fee which was yet to be finalised, Wiggins said.

The new initial standards would continue to be developed and more would also be launched over time, he added.

Darren Hopper, chief executive of eftpos provider Paymark, said the standards were the start of a move into a world where financial information was more accessible but in a secure way.

Hopper said access to the financial data would require consumer consent and consumers would also control how long a company could use their data.

“This isn’t about another Google or Facebook getting access to personal data. It’s about you remaining in control of the data,” he said.

Paymark has already used an API to enable online eftpos payments where consumers enter their mobile number into a retailer’s website instead of credit card details.

The consumer then gets a notification in their banking app and authorises the payment.

Hopper said the service made it easier for people who didn’t have a credit card or felt uncomfortable using their card for online payments.

He said creating the standards was a move in the right direction but it needed to go faster and harder.