The Move to Open Banking
Why We're Moving to Open Banking — And Why It's Great News for You
You may have noticed a prompt in the SortMe app asking you to reconnect your bank accounts through a new process. We know change can feel a little uncertain, so we wanted to take a moment to explain what's happening, why we made this call, and what it means for you.
What is Open Banking?
Open banking is a secure, government-regulated way for you to share your financial data with apps like SortMe. Instead of handing over your internet banking username and password (the old way), open banking works through a direct, encrypted connection between your bank and the apps you choose to authorise.
Think of it like this: in the old system, you were giving SortMe a copy of your house key. With open banking, we get a special visitor's pass — one that only unlocks what's needed, and that you can cancel at any time.
In New Zealand, open banking is part of a broader government-backed initiative to give consumers more control over their own financial data, and major banks are now required to support it.
What's Changing for You?
When you reconnect your accounts, you'll be redirected to your bank's own secure login page to grant permission. You never share your banking credentials with SortMe — your bank handles the authentication entirely. Once you've approved access, your spending data flows through to SortMe exactly as before.
The switch takes about two minutes.
Which banks support Open Banking?
As of 2026, you can connect ASB, ANZ, BNZ and Westpac using Open Banking to SortMe.
We expect Kiwibank will launch their support by late 2026/early 2027 with the remaining banks going live sometime in 2027.
Why Open Banking is Better
It's more secure. Your bank login details stay with your bank, full stop. Even if something unexpected ever happened on our end, your credentials would never be at risk.
It's more reliable. Legacy connections could break whenever your bank updated their website. Open banking uses a purpose-built API, which means fewer disruptions and more consistent data.
You're in control. You can see exactly which apps have access to your data and revoke that access at any time — directly from your bank's app or website, no need to contact us.
It's fresher data. Open banking connections often update more frequently, which means the spending insights you see in SortMe are more timely and accurate.
Your Privacy Still Comes First
Nothing changes about how SortMe uses your data. We only ever access your transaction history to power your spending insights — we don't store your credentials, we don't sell your data, and we never will. Open banking simply makes that existing commitment more technically robust.
If you have any questions about the transition, reach out to our support team. We're here to help make the switch as smooth as possible.