Wealth app Sharesies has joined forces with BlinkPay, New Zealand's first homegrown Māori fintech startup, to redefine how investors manage their finances.
With open banking, New Zealanders can 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 upon 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, the days of needing to wait 1-9 hours for the money to transfer from the bank to a Sharesies Wallet are gone. Instead, investors can safely and securely top up their accounts instantly, immediately, with the money in them.
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 said that New Zealanders have long missed the benefits as the world moves to open banking, particularly when the cost of living pressures make 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,” said Roberts,
This is why Sharesies has teamed up with BlinkPay, doing the mahi with a local fintech player so that over half a million users on Sharesies platform can access open banking capabilities.
“We'll empower them to have more opportunities to grow their long-term wealth and build a better future through this.”
Adrian Smith (Ngāpuhi), co-founder and Chief Product Officer at BlinkPay, said open banking was gaining momentum in New Zealand.
"We're thrilled to be working with Sharesies to build cutting-edge payment services using this advanced technology," said Smith.
"Open banking is and will continue to change 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."
To begin with, Sharesies investors can 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. Customers can 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 than 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.
BlinkPay holds the highest security grade (ISO27001), 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 pose security risks.
"BlinkPay's security ethos was a major factor in why we partnered with them," said Roberts.
"We take protecting our investors' data very seriously, and so knowing that Blinkpay doesn't handle or retain any payment data offers our investors peace of mind when making their instant transfers."
For brand new customers of Sharesies, the first transaction through BlinkPay will be free.
