Hon Kris Faafoi
Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs

27 September 2018

MEDIA STATEMENT

Open banking focus for Minister

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi travels to Sydney tomorrow (Friday) to progress open banking options for New Zealand consumers.

Open banking involves consumers choosing to share their banking data to access new or improved products or services. This could include financial or budgeting advice, dashboards that display a range of financial information in one place, more streamlined and personalised loan applications, and different ways of making payments.

“Open banking is already a requirement in the UK and other countries are following suit,” Mr Faafoi says. “In New Zealand, trials are underway and Australia recently announced it will be introducing a consumer data right that will give customers access to open banking.

“I want to see that work while I am considering whether there is a role for the New Zealand Government in opening up New Zealand’s banking regime further. My meetings will inform this thinking, including how we deal with important issues like privacy, data security and consumer empowerment,” said Mr Faafoi.

Mr Faafoi will meet with Scott Farrell, who chaired the Australian Government’s review into open banking, and Dr Katharine Kemp, a law professor with a particular interest in ensuring that open banking works well for consumers.

“I’ll also discuss open banking with Macquarie Bank, a global, diversified financial group that has taken a proactive approach to data sharing through secure data feeds, ahead of regulatory requirements coming into force.

“New Zealand has the advantage of being able to learn from other countries who are already implementing open banking,” says Mr Faafoi. “This means there’s opportunity for business in the open banking space as well as advantages for consumers able to benefit from new and innovative products.”

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