Bank of New Zealand has acquired Māori open banking fintech BlinkPay.
Founded in 2015, BlinkPay connects with all of the local banks to provide a suite of services for open banking payments.
BNZ says it will apply its resources expertise to help the fintech grow and scale its innovation and product development.
With BNZ as BlinkPay’s new owner, co-founder Adrian Smith becomes the fintech’s CEO.
“As a Māori-led business, we bring a unique perspective to financial innovation. BNZ understands and values this - and they’re backing our vision while enabling us to retain our startup DNA,” Smith says.
“Our kaupapa has always been about making financial services work better for all New Zealanders. BNZ’s support gives us the resources to accelerate our mission and help grow the open banking ecosystem across Aotearoa.”
BNZ currently counts 250,000 customer as users of its open banking platform.
CEO Dan Huggins, says: “This represents the next phase in our journey. With BNZ supporting BlinkPay’s innovation and agility, we can accelerate the development of new products and services that will benefit all New Zealanders."