Originally published in Stuff here and can be watched here

Emerge.Have you heard of them? They’re the Kiwi start-ups wanting to revolutionise New Zealand’s banking sector.

They’ve been building the foundations for a few years and all three have apps with customers - but it’s a David v Goliath struggle. It’s actually more like three infant Davids v 4 massive profit-hungry body-building Goliaths.

Digital banks are big overseas. In the UK, Monzo is what all the cool kids are using - and most expat Kiwis. It’s easy to open an account without faffing around with address confirmations, income details, utility bills and all the rest (you have to do all this stuff with the legacy UK banks which is a pain in the butt when you’ve just arrived there and want to set up your new life).

But in New Zealand, digital banks are still in their infancy. And the big banks like it that way, and probably want to keep it that way.

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