Our Payments NZ API Centre has reached another significant milestone today with the publication of Ngā Tohu Ārahi, our data handling guidelines, which offers a universal framework for the ethical handling of customer data, grounded in the principles of Māori data sovereignty and Māori data governance.
The guidelines are a key ingredient in shaping the future of payments in Aotearoa New Zealand, ensuring what we build today will be fit-for-purpose for many generations to come.
With the Consumer and Product Data Act 2025 establishing a consumer data right framework for Aotearoa, it means Kiwi are standing on the threshold of a fast-paced transformation in open banking and payments innovation.
It is essential that as consumers encounter new payment platforms and ways of paying that they continue to have confidence in the safety and security of the underlying payments system and the protection of their data and privacy, says Jane-Renee Retimana, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Payments NZ.
“Our API Centre is on a journey to uphold ethical customer data handling practices in our mahi and to promote those across our ecosystem. Māori data sovereignty principles and Māori data governance frameworks provided us with the mātauranga (knowledge) for this journey and the foundations for our guidelines. We have worked closely with Māori data scientists, data experts and key stakeholders from our API Centre to develop Ngā Tohu Ārahi. It is grounded in te ao Māori values and will help organisations safeguard and ethically manage the lifecycle of their customer data.
“Ngā Tohu Ārahi provides the guidelines to protect Māori and consumers rights and interests in their data, and we see them as an inclusive universal framework that treats all data as a treasure that organisations are kaitiaki over.”
The guidelines reflect Payments NZ’s and our API Centre’s commitment to promoting ethical data governance practices in the standards we govern, particularly for the Standards Users who are part of the Centre’s open banking ecosystem.
The beginning of a journey
The release of Ngā Tohu Ārahi marks the first stage in Payments NZ’s journey to explore Māori data governance, working in partnership with Māori data scientists from Nicholson Consulting, who strive for a more equitable Aotearoa for the good of the communities. Ernestynne Walsh, Māori data service lead at Nicholson Consulting says Ngā Tohu Ārahi represent a step forward in embedding Māori values into the payments infrastructure of Aotearoa.
“Ngā Tohu Ārahi offers tangible examples of what good Māori data governance looks like in practice right here in the payments sector. It’s heartening to see the genuine commitment and progress made by Payments NZ. Embedding te ao Māori into the foundations of our digital and financial systems is not only possible – it’s essential for building a more equitable and trusted future.”
Retimana says the governance model used in the guidelines can be applied to all types of customer data.
“Our initial interest in exploring the benefits of Māori data governance was two-fold. Over the past few years, our kaimahi (staff) and API Centre stakeholders became more aware of the Māori data sovereignty movement and the organisations exploring this space .
At the same time, Payments NZ had started our own Te Ao Māori journey, with our Tō Mātou Haerenga strategy, which outlines our commitment in ensuring representation and rangatiratanga of Māori in the payments network and through that supporting whanau to achieve financial wellbeing and equity through a world class payments system. We see these guidelines as part of our journey in bringing this ambition to life.”
Honouring our Te Ao Māori commitments
The API Centre has engaged widely with the industry during the process of creating our guidelines, in partnership with Nicholson Consulting.
Since we started this work, the Centre held workshops led by Nicholson Consulting to teach our own kaimahi in understanding Māori data frameworks and skills, and to input into the development of Ngā Tohu Ārahi, as well as holding series of qualitative interviews and hui, working group sessions and webinars.
“We are looking forward to growing the relationship we’ve started building with Māori organisations and leaders as we progress our vision and our work,” says Retimana. “We value the wisdom and expertise they bring to the table, as well as their perspectives and mana as tangata whenua.”