Wych
Wych builds open banking infrastructure: financial data APIs that connect banks, fintechs and consumers so financial data moves by customer consent over accredited rails rather than by handing a banking username and password to a screen scraper.
- Category
- Fintech
- Fund
- NZVC II
- Website
- www.wych.io
- On TechMates
- 3 episodes
What Wych does
Founder Dermot Butterfield bootstrapped the company for roughly seven years and converted its platform to Australian standards over a single weekend to win a government test-partner role, making Wych one of the smallest accredited data recipients in Australia's Consumer Data Right regime. The company helped Kiwibank deliver open banking, is connected to more than 115 CDR data providers, and raised NZ$1.5M from NZVC, the NZ Fintech Fund and Booster after hundreds of investor meetings.
The secret
Open banking runs on accreditation, and accreditation costs enough that most fintechs never attempt it. Wych became one of the smallest accredited data recipients in Australia's regime, so other companies can use its rails instead of building their own security and compliance.
Why NZVC invested in Wych
NZVC invested in Wych from NZVC Fund II. We file the company under Fintech on the portfolio wall.
We invested in Wych because open banking across Australia and New Zealand is moving from screen scraping to consented, government-mandated APIs, and whoever holds the accredited rails at that switch carries the traffic behind it. Dermot Butterfield bootstrapped the company for seven years and collected 677 investor rejections before the regime caught up with what he had already built. Kiwi Bank has since dropped its API fees.
Wych in the press
- Kiwibank turned on open banking for every customerNewsWire · 28 May 2026
- Wych raised NZ$1.5 million for open banking in New Zealand and AustraliaStartup Daily, Australian FinTech · 29 September 2025
- Kiwibank waived its open banking fees, starting with WychNZ Adviser, Kiwibank (media release) · 3 June 2025
Wych on TechMates
The Startup Powering ANZ's Open Banking Moment
You hear Dermot Butterfield break down what open banking actually is, why New Zealand banks stalled it, and how his small team became one of the smallest accredited data recipients in Australia's regime. He explains the shift from screen scraping to consented, government-mandated API rails, the Kiwibank fee-free API move, and the document-fraud risk created by AI-edited bank statements. Behind it sit seven years bootstrapped and 677 investor rejections before the open-banking moment arrived.
“You can't MVP compliance. You're either compliant or you're not.”Dermot Butterfield
- Wych is the secure infrastructure connecting banks, fintechs and consumers, so providers do not have to build security and compliance themselves.
- Open banking gives customers ownership of their financial data and lets them share it by consent rather than handing over a banking username and password.
- The company bootstrapped for roughly seven years, converting its platform to Australian standards over a single weekend to win a government test-partner role.
Wych on TechMates
Meet the Founders Disrupting Australia & NZ's Banking Monopolies
You hear three fintech founders explain why Australia and New Zealand, with close access to regulators and little competition between big banks, are strong places to build. Dom Pym tells how frustration with legacy banks led to Up, a bank designed to beat TikTok on engagement, Dermot Butterfield explains the open banking pipes that free your financial data, and Leighton Roberts lays out how Sharesies gives someone with five dollars the same access as a millionaire. Together they take apart the ANZ banking establishment.
“We need to build an app that is engaging. We don't need to build a bank.”Dominic Pym, Up
- Dominic Pym spent six years building banking software for Bendigo Bank before deciding to build his own bank out of frustration.
- Up's design brief was to beat TikTok, Instagram and Uber on daily engagement, not to beat other banks.
- A traditional banking license needs around $100M in reserve, $100M in runway, and core systems from SAP, Oracle or IBM.
Wych on TechMates
Fintech Frontiers: Reinventing Money from the Edge of the World | NZVC Portfolio Day
You hear three founders describe what it takes to build fintech in a country where four Australian banks own the market. Jovan Pavlicevic on lobbying to start a bank, Dermot Butterfield on open banking pipes, and Steven Zinsli on making public transport tax-free through product design.
A joint episode, alongside SquareOne and Extraordinary.