In July, members of the PocketSmith team flew to Sydney to attend FinTech Australia’s annual CDR Summit, the country’s premier open banking event. By bringing together the industry’s key players, the growing momentum behind the Consumer Data Right (CDR) can be utilised to drive real change in how people access, understand and benefit from their financial data.
With PocketSmith’s long-standing experience with open banking in multiple global markets, CEO Jason Leong took part in the “Innovating with Open Data — Perspectives from Aotearoa New Zealand” panel to offer his view on what is working, what isn’t and what’s needed next for New Zealand’s own unfolding open banking journey.
Joining him on the panel was Glen Hildreth, Consumer Policy Manager for New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, and Dermot Butterfield, CEO of open banking aggregator Wych. Shannon Rennie, experienced CDR and open banking communications specialist, moderated the panel.
Bringing together voices from government, fintech and industry ensured the panel offered a rich mix of viewpoints on New Zealand’s open banking journey. Hearing from different perspectives made for a fuller, more rounded conversation about open banking in New Zealand.
While inevitably sharing some similarities in approach, New Zealand’s path to fully-fledged open banking has been notably different from Australia’s in one major way. While Australia’s CDR framework and implementation were established by regulation from the outset, New Zealand’s has been largely market-led, left to the discretion of financial institutions via industry bodies like Payments NZ. This approach aimed to create a standardised API system to enable bank-fintech data sharing, without heavy regulation, with the expectation that industry momentum and collaboration would deliver efficient outcomes and innovation.
With the informed insight of being the link between banks and consumer services as an aggregator service, Dermot recalled the encouraging start to a market-led implementation, where all participants were engaged from the beginning with a shared goal of building usable specifications. The Payments NZ-led API Centre produced high-quality open banking API standards, but lacked enforcement power with the major institutions. Adoption was optional, so only one version has been implemented, and even then, not universally. As Jason pointed out, while this model was intended to foster innovation, it has often left consumer outcomes as secondary.
In practice, this has resulted in adoption challenges. Financial institutions have been able to prioritise risk minimisation and commercial benefit, which has limited the scope and quality of APIs. Inconsistent or partial data access, unclear timelines, and a lack of enforceable standards have made it difficult for fintechs to build with confidence. For consumers, this results in fragmented experiences, where full visibility of their financial picture is often difficult or impossible without jumping through hoops.
Glen shared how, over many stops and starts and multiple changes in government, the limitations of this process became clear. He said international experience (such as Australia and the UK) showed that voluntary systems rarely achieve full potential and that regulatory certainty is key to accelerating adoption, which led the government to decide on a regulatory-led designation under the Customer and Product Data Bill.
Acknowledging Australia’s regulatory route to open banking implementation, Jason echoed how a regulatory-led system for New Zealand should address many of these issues, by offering predictability in the form of deadlines and roadmaps, to raise the quality of data and reduce friction for both fintech developers and end users. For PocketSmith’s New Zealand customers, this would translate into more stable connections, more comprehensive data, and fewer workarounds. Instead of spending time troubleshooting incomplete feeds or waiting for individual banks to open access, our teams could focus on improving the core PocketSmith experience for the benefit of our customers.
Jason also expressed concerns about the recently announced proposal by the New Zealand government to allow banks to charge third parties for access to customer data. While the intention may be to recover costs, this could create significant barriers to entry, particularly for smaller fintechs. It risks making open banking economically unviable for those without deep pockets — an outcome that would limit innovation and reduce the availability of helpful financial tools for everyday consumers.
Dermot likened it to a toll road. He compared the transition to regulation to building a five-lane motorway between major cities. Currently, only one lane exists, and there are many traffic cones representing a multitude of barriers. Numerous tolls are charged before completion, and past delays (7+ years) have eroded confidence in promises to finish.
It’s a sentiment shared by many in New Zealand’s fintech industry, and Glen acknowledged that the kickback was swift and loud, and shared that the government is currently working through a more agreeable solution.
In December 2025, a regulated form of open banking in New Zealand will become available.
Looking ahead, Jason advocated for a version of open banking that is truly consumer-first and where the ecosystem supports a broad range of innovators, not just the largest or best-resourced players. The hope is for a system that enables better decision-making and meaningful financial outcomes, not one constrained by access fees or institutions fighting to keep the status quo.
While each panellist brought a different lens to the discussion, Glen, Dermot, and Jason were united in their goal of seeing open banking succeed in New Zealand. All three voiced a commitment to working toward a system that’s effective, accessible, and beneficial for everyone, from industry players to everyday consumers. They also looked to Australia’s experience - where both PocketSmith and Wych are present - as both a source of inspiration and a reminder of the importance of balancing innovation with strong regulation, to deliver the best outcomes.
Watch the video below to catch a snippet of the panel:
