Adrian Smith
Podcast appearances as guest
Episode 9 - Adrian Smith from Blinkpay
In this episode I sit down with Adrian Smith, founder and CEO of BlinkPay, a New Zeland based fintech startup that aims to revolutionize NZ's payments industry by offering seamless, cost-effective payment services.
On the podcast
BlinkPay is a New Zealand fintech building open banking payment services, and data services as banks make them available.
Adrian previously worked in London as Digital Director at Barclays.
New Zealand has only two or three fintech accelerators, against hundreds in places like Singapore or Israel.
Investors in New Zealand and Australia often ask small-market startups how they will become the next Xero; the government's NZTE helps companies scale abroad.
New Zealand's four major banks serve 85–90% of banked customers; once BlinkPay had all four, it went from chasing business to triaging inbound demand.
Bank of New Zealand integrated with BlinkPay's payments API in October 2021, two and a half years ahead of the industry's May 2024 target.
New Zealand took an industry-led approach to open banking, unlike the UK's regulator-driven one.
A New Zealand banking licence requires $30 million in capital, though lowering it to $10 million has been discussed.
Successful founders often have no plan B, unbounded self-belief and obsession with their vision.
New Zealand's major banks were about to make open banking data services live, enabling confirmation of funds and income checks in seconds.