Regulations enabling the uptake of open banking in New Zealand took effect from 1 December 2025, marking the first phase of the country’s regulated open banking rollout, based on a news release by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.

The regulations are designed to spur innovation and strengthen competition in the banking sector by enabling secure, customer-centric services such as budgeting tools, faster mortgage comparison tools, and new payment methods.

The NZ open banking regulations establish a secure and reliable way for customers to share their data, allowing them to access the benefits of new services without handing over banking details to unregulated organisations.

These regulations also mandate that data can only be shared with explicit authorisation by a customer. Accreditation by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is compulsory for businesses to be able to access information.

MBIE is now inviting applications from organisations that wish to become accredited data requestors. Those that qualify will be recognised through MBIE’s trust mark for accreditation.

MBIE has entered into a standards licensing agreement with Payments NZ, said to be an industry leader in open banking adoption.

The agreement will ensure continuity by allowing MBIE to incorporate the Payments NZ API Centre’s version 2.3.3 standards for data, payments, and API security into regulation.

The regulations outline which banks are designated under the Customer and Product Data Act 2025 and set the timeline for the phased rollout of open banking.

As of 1 December 2025, ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac are required to have their open banking systems live. Kiwibank must have open banking systems in place by June 2026 for payment services, with the remaining services to go live by December 2026.

All other banks and deposit takers have the option to opt in voluntarily starting 1 December 2025.

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