We’re celebrating six years of industry-led progress on open banking with the release of our new report, Shaping Open Banking Together – highlighting delivery, collaboration and trusted partnerships across the open data ecosystem.
This report marks six years of Payments NZ’s API Centre and acknowledges and celebrates significant industry effort so far, at a key moment in the development of open banking for Aotearoa New Zealand.
Highlights from the report include:
- 25 open banking API standards developed and released by the API Centre, spanning six versions
- 4 banks live with key open banking standards – covering over 80% of customer accounts in Aotearoa
- Over 1,100 users of our API sandbox, powered by Glueware – creating 235 unique apps and making more than 13.7 million test calls
- 518 community contributors, up from just five in 2019
- 11,000+ working group hours, and 2,300 event registrations
- 12 versions of the API Centre Terms and Conditions, developed and refined with industry input – part of a model built on trust, inclusion and co-design
- The launch of Ngā Tohu Ārahi, the API Centre’s new Data Handling Guidelines developed in partnership with Nicholson Consulting.
“We’ve built a world-class foundation for open banking in New Zealand – not through mandate, but through collective mahi,” says Phil Cass, Manager of Payments NZ’s API Centre. “This report is a chance to pause, reflect, and acknowledge what we’ve achieved together.”
The API Centre, established in 2019 by Payments NZ, has taken an industry-led path to progress – balancing technical governance with inclusive collaboration across banks, fintechs, regulators, and wider industry voices.
“Our approach in Aotearoa is unique – open banking here has been shaped by cooperation, not compliance,” says Cass.
“We’ve seen the cost of regulation in the UK and Australia, and in Aotearoa we have delivered a fully functioning ecosystem at a fraction of the cost.
“We’re carrying forward the same spirit of industry-led partnership and progress as we transition to a regulated environment for open banking.”
As Aotearoa looks ahead to the formal designation of banks under the Customer Product and Data Act in December 2025, Payments NZ is confident that the foundations built through the API Centre will continue to support safe, secure, and inclusive innovation.
“This is just the beginning,” says Cass. “The next chapter of open banking will be even more impactful – and we’re ready.”