Westpac NZ Supports Open Banking Rollout By Not Charging Fintechs For Standard API Calls

Westpac NZ is supporting the rollout of open banking in New Zealand by making standard API requests through its systems free for accredited third-party providers, for at least the first 12 months.

“Allowing fintechs to integrate into our open banking APIs for no cost should create a more affordable business model for them, and ultimately speed up access for Kiwi consumers to a wide range of affordable open banking experiences,” Westpac NZ Chief Information Officer Russell Jones says.

“As an early participant in Online EFTPOS from 2019, we understand the value of providing consumers with more options for making payments and managing their money in a safe and secure way.

“We already have agreements in place with a number of fintechs, and we’ve notified them of their reduced pricing, which we’ll review in 12 months’ time as the open banking landscape evolves. We expect to enter into agreements with a number of new fintechs in the near future.

“We’re already facilitating thousands of open banking payments a month for Kiwi consumers, and we expect that to keep growing steadily as trust and awareness of open banking grows.”

Mr Jones says an industry-wide collaborative approach is needed to make open banking a success.

“We’re keen to ensure New Zealand’s open banking ecosystem is viable in the long term and we hope to see it expand to include all financial services participants.

“We look forward to MBIE releasing the central accreditation model, which will further streamline the onboarding experience by removing the need for fintechs to enter into multiple bilateral agreements with open banking providers.

“Consumer confidence is also key to the successful uptake of open banking, and we continue to work with the industry on future API standards that are safe and secure, as well as providing a seamless and efficient partnering process with third parties that creates trust in the system.

“From an operational perspective, we’re on track to meet the 30 May deadline for Payments NZ’s API Centre Payment Initiation implementation plan version 2.3. This will give customers increased functionality and choice for making both one-off and regular ongoing payments.”

More information about Westpac’s open banking work can be found on its website, including a list of current integrated third-party providers.

Earlier this month, the government released guidance that bank charges for open banking must not exceed 1 cent per successful API call for account information and 5 cents per transaction for payments.

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