We’re leading Aotearoa New Zealand’s open banking future
Open banking exists so that customers can safely share their account information with trusted apps and services and make payments direct from their bank account. It’s part of a global open data revolution impacting our everyday lives for the better.
Standardisation and protocols ensure fast, secure and user-friendly API services that benefits all of us. That’s where the API Centre comes in.
The API Centre
The API Centre co-designs the open banking standards alongside banks and the tech community to ensure fast, secure, user-friendly API services.
Our co-design delivery model is fit-for-purpose in Aotearoa. This world-class framework is award winning, cost-effective, and industry led. We believe that the end products and services should give consumers confidence in how their data is accessed and shared, and how payments are made.
A bit of background
Aotearoa’s payments industry recognises the significant benefits in having standardised open banking APIs and a trusted operational framework to support their ongoing use and development.
In 2017, industry discussions led to a set of guiding principles and objectives for such a service and the subsequent creation of the API Centre.
With considerable experience in standards development, management, and governance, Payments NZ set up the API Centre to work with banks and the tech industry. The vision was to develop and publish API standards, paving the way for banks and tech companies to deliver innovative digital experiences for Kiwi.
The API Centre was launched in May 2019 with a broad mandate to connect the industry and facilitate the foundations of standardised API-related innovation, aka open banking.
For more about our history you can read Our open banking journey (PDF, 2019) and some of the highlights of the first 6 years (2025).
Join the API Centre
There are a range of ways you can get involved with the API Centre. You can subscribe to receive email updates, or join the centre for closer involvement with the standards. Individuals that join as a Community Contributor get free access to our sandbox and organisations that join as a Standards User can also use the standards in partnership with other registered Standards Users.
In this section
Our purpose
Learn about the API Centre’s service model and how it was developed by the industry.
Read moreAPI Council
Learn about the membership and responsibilities of the API Council and its independent committee.
Read moreAPI Business Group
Get an overview of this group’s responsibilities and how its members are appointed.
Read moreAPI Technical Group
Find out what this team of technical experts does and how they are appointed.
Read more