Sharesies, BlinkPay partner for Open Banking in New Zealand

Open Banking, a novel financial concept in New Zealand, enables individuals to securely share their banking data with third-party services, ushering in a new era of personalised, efficient, and cost-effective financial management. The official implementation of Open Banking in Aotearoa (the contemporary Māori-language name for New Zealand) has garnered support from major banks and is scheduled to commence in the middle of 2024. Nevertheless, the collaboration between Sharesies and BlinkPay allows Sharesies investors to benefit from innovative Open Banking features and tools to improve their financial prospects at an earlier stage.

Through BlinkPay's integration with Sharesies, the conventional waiting period of 1-9 hours for funds to transfer from a bank to a Sharesies Wallet will reportedly become obsolete. Investors can now top up their accounts instantaneously, with the funds immediately reflecting in their account.

This feature allows investors to respond promptly to time-sensitive opportunities on the platform, such as capital raises, corporate actions, and fluctuations in share prices. Additionally, it facilitates the rapid deposit of substantial sums.

According to the co-founder and co-CEO of Sharesies, as the world transitions to Open Banking, New Zealanders have long awaited the advantages it offers. Especially when the pressures of rising living costs make every dollar count, Sharesies reportedly aims to provide everyone with early access to innovative technology that can open doors to more investment opportunities – whether it's executing a critical trade or swiftly transferring a lump sum.

The co-founder and Chief Product Officer at BlinkPay emphasised that Open Banking is gaining momentum in Aotearoa, and they’re excited to collaborate with Sharesies to create better payment services using this advanced technology. Open Banking is already reshaping how New Zealanders manage their finances, and the company is eager to make it accessible to everyone, offering transparency about their money's whereabouts and trajectory.

To commence, Sharesies investors who are customers of Westpac and Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) will gain access to BlinkPay. ANZ and ASB have committed to implementing Open Banking payments by May 2024, and BlinkPay intends to integrate them as soon as they are available.

The process is reportedly hassle-free as investors need not create a separate BlinkPay account. Instead, they can follow the usual procedure on the Sharesies platform to top up their Wallets, where they will find a new payment option: Instant bank transfer. A nominal transaction fee of AUD 1 applies to each Instant bank transfer, making it more cost-effective for larger payments compared to credit cards, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. Traditional bank transfers remain free for all Sharesies investors.

BlinkPay maintains the ISO27001 security standard, reportedly on par with traditional banking, and its secure Application Programming Interface (API) with banks eliminates the need for screen scraping – a common practice among other third-party payment providers that supposedly comes with security risks.

For new Sharesies customers, the first transaction through BlinkPay is free, to further improve the appeal of this financial collaboration. This development marks a step forward towards bringing the advantages of Open Banking to New Zealanders and improving the way they manage their finances.