Sharesies taps Māori fintech BlinkPay to pave the way for open banking

Wellington, 27 September 2023

Wealth app Sharesies has joined forces with BlinkPay, New Zealand’s first homegrown Māori fintech startup, to redefine the way investors manage their finances.

With open banking, New Zealanders are able to securely connect their banking data between banks and third party services, enabling them to access more personalised, faster, and cost-effective ways to manage their money.

The rollout of open banking in Aotearoa has been agreed by the major banks, and is set to start from mid-next year. However, Sharesies’ partnership with BlinkPay gives its investors a headstart — empowering them with innovative open banking controls and tools to build a better financial future today.

Through BlinkPay’s integration with Sharesies, gone are the days of needing to wait 1-9 hours for money to transfer from the bank to a Sharesies Wallet. Instead, investors now have the option to safely and securely top up their accounts instantly, with the money represented in their account straight away.

This revolutionary feature enables investors to act immediately for any time sensitive opportunities on the platform, such as capital raises, corporate actions and share price fluctuations. And also for depositing large amounts quickly.

Sharesies co-founder and co-CEO, Brooke Roberts says, “As the world moves to open banking, Kiwi have long missed out on the benefits. Particularly when the cost of living pressures are making every dollar count more, we want to give everyone a jump start on accessing innovative technology that’ll open up more doors for investing— whether it’s to make a pressing trade or transferring a lump sum instantly.

“That’s why we’ve teamed up with BlinkPay, doing the mahi with a local fintech player so that over half a million users on our platform can access open banking capabilities. Our hope is through this we’ll empower them to have more opportunities to grow their long-term wealth and build a better future.”

Adrian Smith (Ngāpuhi), co-founder and Chief Product Officer at BlinkPay says, “Open banking is gaining momentum in Aotearoa, and we’re thrilled to be working with Sharesies to build cutting-edge payment services using this advanced technology.

“Open banking is and will continue to change the game for how New Zealanders manage their finances. We’re excited to bring the reality of open banking closer to everyone, so they know where their money is, where it’s gone, and where it’s going.”

Instant transactions at your fingertips

To begin with, Sharesies investors will be able to access BlinkPay if they are Westpac and Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) customers. ANZ and ASB have committed to being ready for open banking payments by May 2024, and BlinkPay intends to add them as soon as they become available.

There is no need to create a separate BlinkPay account. Simply go through the usual process on the Sharesies platform to top up the Wallet, and a new payment method will be available to select: Instant bank transfer.

A flat transaction fee of $1 is required for each Instant bank transfer completed. This method is best suited for larger payments where it is cheaper compared to using a credit card, Apple or Google Pay. If using the traditional bank transfer fee, this remains free for all Sharesies investors.

No transaction limits are set with BlinkPay, but each bank’s limits still apply.

Your data stays with you

BlinkPay holds the highest security grade (ISO27001) that is on par with traditional banking standards. Its secure Application Programming Interface (API) with banks means it does not rely on screen scraping, a common practice used by other third party payment options that poses security risks.

“BlinkPay’s security ethos was a major factor as to why we partnered with them,” adds Brooke Roberts, Sharesies co-founder and co-CEO. “We take protecting our investors’ data very seriously, and so knowing that Blinkpay doesn’t handle or retain any payments data offers our investors peace of mind when it comes to making their instant transfers.”

For brand new customers of Sharesies, the first transaction through BlinkPay will be free.