Open banking and your business loan in New Zealand

For years, sharing bank data with a lender meant one of two things: downloading a stack of PDF statements, or typing your internet banking password into a third-party screen and hoping for the best. New Zealand’s regulated open banking regime changes that. It gives business owners a safer, faster way to let a lender see how money moves through the business — on your terms.

What is open banking, in plain English?

Open banking is a set of rules that requires banks to share your account data, or carry out payments, with an accredited third party when you tell them to. The legal backbone is the Customer and Product Data Act 2025, which created New Zealand’s consumer data right. Banking is the first sector, with electricity planned next.

Instead of handing over a password, you are sent to your own bank’s app or website. You log in there, see exactly what is being requested, and approve or decline. The lender receives the data through a secure connection, and your login never leaves your bank.

Which New Zealand banks are live, and when?

Bank	Designated for	From
ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Westpac	Account information and payments	1 December 2025
Kiwibank	Payments	1 June 2026
Kiwibank	Account information	1 December 2026
Other deposit-takers	Can opt in	Varies

MBIE notes a transitional period: from December 2025 to June 2027, access runs through banks’ main digital channels. From June 2027, it extends to more of their electronic channels, excluding those used mainly by large entities. In practice, if you bank with one of the big four and use their standard app or internet banking, connection should be straightforward. For the full history and what is next, see our open banking timeline guide.

What data does a lender see through open banking?

Under the regulations, designated banks share customer information (names, contact details and whether an account is joint or sole) and account data: account number, name, type, balance, transactions and statements. The accounts in scope are transaction, savings and loan accounts that you can already reach through online or mobile banking.

A business lender uses that data to answer practical questions:

• How much revenue arrives each month, and how steady is it?
• What regular commitments go out — wages, rent, existing loan repayments, Inland Revenue payments?
• Does the account dip into overdraft or bounce payments?
• Are there large one-off movements that need an explanation?

The lender does not see your passwords and cannot move money unless you separately authorise a payment.

How does consent work when you connect?

Consent is the heart of the system. Before anything is shared you should be told who is asking, what data they want, what it is for and how long access will last. You approve that specific request inside your bank. You can usually review and withdraw consent later from your banking app or through the service you used. Our page on data-sharing consent explains what to look for before you tap approve.

If you are happy with how that works, you can start your enquiry now and your specialist will tell you whether a bank connection or statement upload suits the lender in your case.

Open banking or uploaded statements — which is better?

Both work. A live connection is quicker and harder to get wrong, because the lender receives complete data directly from the bank. Uploads give you more manual control and work with any bank. Read our comparison of bank connections versus statement uploads for the pros and cons.

Worked example (illustrative): a Christchurch landscaping company banks with one of the big four. Rather than exporting six monthly PDFs from two accounts, the director approves a read-only connection in the banking app. The lender receives the transaction history for both accounts in minutes, and the specialist can see straight away that the winter dip is seasonal, not a trend.

What should you check before connecting?

• Use the real link. Start from the lender’s or our site, not a link in an unexpected text or email.
• Read the scope. Make sure the request covers only the accounts the lender needs.
• Check the duration. A one-off pull for an application is different from ongoing access to monitor a facility.
• Know how to switch it off. Find the consent management area in your banking app before you need it.

Is open banking safe?

Regulated open banking is designed to be safer than the old screen-scraping approach, because you never share your password and access is limited to what you approve. It is not a shield against every scam, though. Criminals may pretend to be a bank or a lender to trick you into approving access. If anything feels off, stop and check using contact details you already trust. See online loan scams in New Zealand.

Does using open banking improve your chances?

Not directly. The lender judges the same thing either way: whether the business can comfortably meet repayments. What a clean connection does is remove friction. There is no chance of a missing page, a statement from the wrong account or a blurry scan, and fewer follow-up requests mean the decision arrives sooner. If your statements tell a good story, open banking simply delivers that story faster. If there are bumps — a bounced direct debit, a lumpy quarter — mention them on the call so the context arrives with the data.

Start online with confidence

Whether you connect your bank or upload statements, the first step is the same short enquiry. It runs no credit check, it goes to one team rather than a crowd of lenders, and a specialist reads it personally. Give accurate figures and mention every account the business uses, and the data step will be smooth. Begin your online enquiry.