Dosh co-founders James McEniery (left) and Shane Marsh. Photo: Supplied / Dosh
A financial technology start-up vying to become a bank says it will be able to provide potential consumers with cheaper fees, better security and an easy-to-use app.
Dosh is currently a digital wallet app, but has made an application with the Reserve Bank to be able to offer personal banking services exclusively online.
Co-founder and chief executive Shane Marsh said a digital bank did not have the same high costs for rent and staffing that traditional banks did.
He said that meant Dosh could keep prices down for consumers.
"Today Dosh offers the best savings rate in the market, so 5.1 percent versus the main four banks which are offering somewhere of point 4.5 and 4.6 percent. Through becoming a bank and being able to work directly with the Reserve Bank, we think we can offer even better prices.
"Beyond savings rates as we look to bring in our home loan product later this year as well, what we do see in the market is that young Kiwis are losing hope in terms of ever getting on the property market and we're thinking differently about how we structure the pricing for a home loan that better suits young people."
Marsh said it will also bring competition to the market, particularly in terms of banking technology.
"It's about making everyone's lives easier. So today we have fast, in app account opening. It takes less than two minutes to get an account with Dosh. We offer some of the best-in-class security that will reduce your fraud risk and seamless design to make it easier to do your banking."
RBNZ has strict requirements for new entrants wanting to become a bank - including $30 million in capital - but Marsh said he was confident Dosh had the backing of investors to stack up the cash.
He expected the application process to take a minimum of a year to complete.
