Akahu.io - Anybody heard of them before?

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Akahu.io - Anybody heard of them before?

ANglEAUT

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#289165 16-Aug-2021 20:47

As per the subject, does anybody know more about akahu.io / akahu.nz?

Quick summary: Akahu is New Zealand's open finance platform. Our mission is to empower individuals to gracefully manage and leverage their personal data.
... enabling secure, seamless sharing of financial data and payments between any consenting participant.

Besides banking, they also connect to electricity providers, Water Care, Auckland Transport, 2 Degrees & others.

Key people

Josh Daniell - CEO
Prior experience includes WeWork, Snowball Effect, and Bell Gully.
Ben Lynch - Head of Product and Engineering
Prior experience includes Xero, EROAD, and Jude.

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mentalinc

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#2761151 16-Aug-2021 22:10

One assumes they are just screen scraping banking websites?

So standard warnings apply around breaching T&C refer to the Poli thread

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michaelmurfy

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#2761214 16-Aug-2021 23:40

You're 100% breaching your internet banking T&C's by using this as they're indeed screen scraping.

Rule of thumb - would you enter your internet banking login on a phishing form? No? Then why would you enter it on screen scraping applications? How do you "trust" them more than falling for a phishing scam?

If a site is requesting your internet banking login then they're screen scraping. If a site is requesting you disable your 2FA then they'll be back and they'll be storing credentials for your internet banking - do you know how they're storing these?

Please stop entering your login on third party websites - I've seen people get pwned, I don't want anyone here being pwned also when it is preventable.

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Xeon

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#2761217 16-Aug-2021 23:57

Has investment from Westpac, so perhaps an actual integration with them?

solaybro

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#2761219 17-Aug-2021 00:07

I had heard of them a while ago and thought it looked pretty cool. I had assumed they would be using the open banking standards for the banks and screen scraping for the other accounts they offer. I was disappointed when I went to try them the other day and they were obviously just screen scraping for everything.

michaelmurfy

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#2761220 17-Aug-2021 00:25

Xeon:

Has investment from Westpac, so perhaps an actual integration with them?

Same rule of thumb applies investment or not - if you're entering your internet banking login information on a third party site (and not your own banks site) then you're breaching your internet banking terms and conditions and this won't be an integration. I'd say they'll be aiming to tap into Open Banking stuff in the near future however and may have this already (if you're being directed to your banks website to login).

itxtme

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#2761266 17-Aug-2021 09:28

solaybro:

I had assumed they would be using the open banking standards for the banks and screen scraping for the other accounts they offer.

Open banking is a 5 year later joke. Me thinks it will only happen when regulation happens.

Time and again we've heard banks may be heading the way of the dinosaurs but they continue to thrive. Gareth Vaughan doesn't expect this to change anytime soon

https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/111313/time-and-again-weve-heard-nz-banks-may-be-heading-way-dinosaurs-they-continue-thrive

frankv

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#2761274 17-Aug-2021 09:36

We may update this notice from time to time, and the updated notice will apply from the time it is posted to our website.

Anyone who writes into their privacy statement a clause allowing them to change their privacy statement without notice to their customer is not to be trusted.

It would appear they don't understand the concept that the customer owns their data and controls access to it.

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michaelmurfy

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#2761293 17-Aug-2021 10:27

itxtme:

Open banking is a 5 year later joke. Me thinks it will only happen when regulation happens.

As I am somebody who works in this space I can tell you now that you're incorrect. You've also got to think how much needs to be done especially since money is involved. The solution has to be secure, scalable, reliable and done correctly from the start. Some banks have already got some open banking integration in-place with third parties (ANZ with Spark as an example).

I can't dive into details but this is already regulated via the reserve bank and is happening. Banks are also rather tied up currently dealing with the BS11 Outsourcing Policy (here).

In short, it is happening and rather quickly in the scheme of things. Until then, stop falling for "phishing sites".

ANglEAUT

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#2761357 17-Aug-2021 11:12

mentalinc: ... So standard warnings apply around breaching T&C refer to the Poli thread

michaelmurfy: ... Please stop entering your login on third party websites - I've seen people get pwned, I don't want anyone here being pwned also when it is preventable.

Yes, yes, those points were made abundantly clear in the recent "expense tracking app in nz" thread.

Then again, that is NOT what I was asking about. Is anybody aware of this company & who they are / that they are trying to achieve? As stated, they have integrations with other non-bank companies.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

ANglEAUT

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#2761359 17-Aug-2021 11:15

frankv: Anyone who writes into their privacy statement a clause allowing them to change their privacy statement without notice to their customer is not to be trusted. ...

Thx. That got me as well. They will also share the data they collect from you (electricity usage, water usage, mobile phone usage, banking transactions) with 3rd parties.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.