Dosh, a New Zealand-based developer of a youth-oriented money management and payments app, has announced its intention to become the country’s first locally owned digital-only registered bank.
The fintech, known for its full-suite financial management app boasting instant payments, personal loans, and a HISA function, announced it is in the process of applying to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) for a banking licence.
By obtaining a banking licence, Dosh will be able to directly hold its customers’ deposited funds, which currently sit on an unnamed partner bank’s ledger. Dosh states on its website that it uses an “AA-rated NZ registered bank” to hold its customers’ savings “on trust”.
Founded in 2020 as a fully featured money management app, the fintech currently counts around 30,000 customers.
Co-founders James McEniery and Shane Marsh, a veteran banker who notched up 13 years with ANZ, outlined their rationale for pursuing a banking licence: “Our motivation in taking this step is we believe New Zealand consumers deserve competitive banking services which meet their needs.
“If successful, this application will make Dosh New Zealand’s first locally owned, digital-only bank.
“Our digital-only service enables us to achieve new efficiencies for banking consumers, creating a downward pressure on financial product pricing and enabling a more convenient user experience.”
They added: “Built on the latest technology, Dosh is also well placed to bring the benefits of emerging technology, such as AI, to consumers.”
Dosh was initially founded as a mobile payments app, promising users fast and contactless (including QR code) peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. By doing so, it became the first local mobile wallet in New Zealand.
The fintech has since released a number of products and banking services to its all-in-one app, including personal loans, budgeting functions, and its own Dosh Visa debit card.
Dosh said it hopes to introduce Apple and Google Pay integrations next month.
If successful in securing their banking licence – which currently has no fixed end date for completion, but is expected to take at least 12 months – the new ‘Dosh Bank’ will look to introduce a home loan offering.
“We are looking at how best to structure the home loan product for us. What’s most important is that we offer something that’s different in the market than what we see as a relatively generic range of products today,” Marsh said, speaking with local finance publication, interest.co.nz.
Dosh will face some hurdles to its quest for an NZ banking licence, including meeting a minimum $30 million regulatory capital threshold (in 2027, New Zealand will introduce a new capital proportionality principle framework; however, Dosh may not be eligible in its current application).
Marsh said the fintech is currently open to the broader investor community to help meet these capital requirements.
He added that Dosh already meets most of the requirements to qualify as an NZ-licenced bank, including in risk management, compliance, systems and structure. However, some governance changes will be necessary to meet rules around board structure.
Marsh concluded on his LinkedIn: “We strive to bring Kiwis the world’s best digital solutions to maximise their financial wellbeing, and to enable a step-change in financial services for future generations.”
