How keel uses your bank data
Last updated: April 2026
keel offers landlords the option to connect their bank account so we can automatically reconcile incoming rent payments. This page explains exactly what we access, why, and how you stay in control.
Who provides the connection
Bank connectivity is provided by Akahu, New Zealand’s accredited open banking intermediary. Akahu is regulated under the Customer and Product Data Right (CDR) framework administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE). When you connect your bank, you authorise access through your bank’s own secure login — keel never sees your bank username or password.
Akahu has official connections with New Zealand’s major banks (ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, Westpac) and classic connections with other providers. You can learn more about Akahu’s security and accreditation at akahu.nz/security.
What we access
When you connect your bank account through keel, we request the following:
| Scope | What it means | Why we need it |
|---|---|---|
| Account information | Account name, number, and balance | To identify which account is connected and display it in your dashboard |
| Transaction data | Transaction descriptions, amounts, dates, and NZ bank reference fields (particulars, code, reference) | To match incoming deposits to the correct tenancy and detect arrears |
| Enduring consent | Ongoing read-only access | So rent reconciliation continues automatically without you needing to re-authorise each time |
All access is strictly read-only. keel cannot move money, create payments, modify your account, or access any account other than the one you explicitly connect.
Consent type and duration
keel requests enduring consent, which means the connection stays active until you explicitly revoke it. You do not need to re-authorise periodically.
On first connection, we request up to 365 days of transaction history. This is necessary because keel produces tax-year rent summaries and needs to show landlords accurate full-year rental income from day one. It also allows us to compute an honest arrears baseline when you first connect a property with existing tenants.
After the initial backfill, keel polls for new transactions at regular intervals (currently every six hours) and receives real-time webhook notifications from Akahu when new transactions arrive. This ensures rent payments are detected promptly, while pending transactions (not yet cleared by your bank) are tracked separately to avoid premature arrears alerts.
Account security
All keel landlord accounts are protected by server-validated multi-factor authentication (MFA). This means that even if your keel password were compromised, an attacker could not access your account — or your connected bank data — without also having your second factor.
What we do with your bank data
- Rent reconciliation— we match incoming credits to your active tenancies using the transaction amount, NZ bank reference fields, and timing. High-confidence matches are applied automatically; anything we’re not sure about is flagged for your review.
- Arrears detection— if an expected rent payment doesn’t arrive within the expected window, we alert you so you can follow up early.
- Income reporting — we generate tax-year rent summaries from verified bank data so you have accurate records at year end.
What we do NOT do
- We do not sell, share, or disclose your bank data to any third party
- We do not use your bank data for marketing, advertising, or profiling
- We do not use your bank data for credit scoring or affordability assessment
- We do not access accounts other than the one you explicitly connect
- We do not retain bank data after you disconnect (except for a 90-day reconciliation wind-down)
How your data is stored
Bank transaction data is stored in our database hosted in Supabase’s Sydney (Australia) region. All data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest. Access is protected by Row-Level Security (RLS), meaning only you can see your own bank data — not other keel users, not our support team.
How long we keep it
- While connected — transaction data is retained for the life of your keel account
- After disconnection — transaction data is retained for up to 90 days to complete any in-progress reconciliation, then deleted
- After account closure — all bank data is deleted as part of our standard account deletion process
You can request immediate deletion of all bank data at any time by contacting sam@onkeel.co.nz.
How to disconnect
You can revoke keel’s access to your bank data at any time through any of these methods:
- From keel — go to Finances → Bank connections and click Disconnect
- From Akahu — visit my.akahu.nz and revoke keel’s access
- From your bank — manage third-party access through your bank’s online banking portal
Revocation takes effect immediately. We will stop receiving any further data from your bank the moment access is revoked.
Your rights
Under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to access, correct, or delete any personal information we hold, including bank transaction data. For full details, see our Privacy Policy.
Questions?
If you have any questions about how keel handles your bank data, contact our Privacy Officer at sam@onkeel.co.nz.