Is Smoothy's open banking connection safe?

Yes. Smoothy uses the official NZ open banking API via Akahu, an accredited open banking data requestor used by organisations including Sorted, Xero and Westpac. Apps that use the official API never ask for your bank login details and cannot access your accounts directly. Access is controlled by a token your bank issues, which you can revoke. Data is protected with AES 256 encryption and TLS.

How does Smoothy connect to my bank?

You are redirected to Akahu to connect bank feeds. You verify your email, select your bank, authorise bank feeds through your mobile banking app, choose which accounts to share, approve the connection, and confirm in Akahu. Neither Smoothy nor Akahu see your bank login details. You can disconnect in one click.

What data does Smoothy use?

Smoothy receives a read-only view of transaction history from the last 12 months, account names and numbers, and account balances for the accounts you choose to connect. It does not receive your bank login details, the ability to move money, or any information you have not explicitly approved to share.

How Smoothy uses bank feeds

Smoothy uses the official NZ open banking API to get a read-only view of your bank transactions known as ‘bank feeds’. Open banking is regulated by the NZ government and authorised by all major NZ banks including ASB, ANZ, BNZ, KiwiBank, Westpac & TSB.

Smoothy uses New Zealand’s most widely used open banking service provider, Akahu, to obtain your bank feeds. Akahu is an accredited open banking data requestor – they’re used by over 100 government, corporate, and fintech organisations across New Zealand, including well known financial service providers Sorted, Xero, MYOB, Simplicity, Sharesies and Westpac (who also part-owns Akahu). If you’ve ever connected bank feeds to a personal finance app in NZ, chances are you’ve already used Akahu.

Learn more about open banking

What data does Smoothy receive?

The bank feeds we receive via open banking are a ‘read-only’ view of your bank transactions. We use your transaction information to display your account balances, identify your recurring expenses and subscriptions, predict your upcoming expenses and calculate your ‘safe to spend’ budget.

What we use

Transaction history from the last 12 months for the accounts you’ve selected to connect
Account names and numbers
Account balances

What we don’t get

Your bank login details or direct access to your bank accounts
The ability to move money
Access to any information you haven’t explicitly approved to share with us

All connections run on Akahu’s official open-banking APIs authenticated by all major NZ banks; we do not use ‘classic’ credential-storing connections.

How do I set up bank feeds?

When you’re ready to connect your bank feeds to Smoothy, you’ll be redirected to Akahu to connect your bank feeds.

Verify your email address with Akahu
Select your bank
Authorise bank feeds through your mobile banking app
Select which accounts you wish to share bank feeds for
Approve your bank to share bank feeds
Confirm your connections in Akahu

When you authorise bank feeds through your mobile banking app, your bank grants Akahu & Smoothy a secure token for ongoing access to your bank feeds. Your transactions are encrypted so they cannot be intercepted.

Neither Smoothy or Akahu ask for, or see your bank login details, and we cannot access your bank accounts directly or move money.

You can disconnect your bank feeds in a single click either from inside Smoothy or from your internet banking app. Your bank feeds can no longer be accessed by Smoothy and all data displayed in your Smoothy app is automatically deleted.

Still have questions?

See How Smoothy works and Security.

Read more about Akahu’s security at akahu.nz/safety.

Need help?
Drop us a line at info@smoothyhq.com.