From the evening of April 12th, the way PayHero handles payments made via Akahu will change.
These updates are driven by new banking regulations as the industry moves toward open banking, which doesn't currently support the "pay anyone consent" method that our Akahu integration requires.
There are multiple changes to be aware of, each of which may have an impact on your business. Please review each change carefully and reach out to our team with any questions.
Payments are now processed via FlexiTime
Previously, the integration made individual payments directly to your employees from your bank account. Moving forward, the integration will generate a single payment from your account to FlexiTime. We will then pay your employees and any other recipients on your behalf.
Mandatory tax payment processing
To align with other payment methods in PayHero, tax payments must be included at the time of processing the pay.
We will pass these payments on to IRD by the due date (20th of the following month).
Payments are processed at noon and 9 pm
Payments will be sent to your employees (and other recipients) at noon or 9 pm each day, based on when the transaction clears into our account.
Transaction limits apply
Banks are enforcing unexpectedly low transaction limits on open banking payments. These limits will make the integration unusable if your total payroll exceeds your bank's supported threshold.
We recommend checking these figures against your typical pay run total to ensure your bank can support your needs.
The current thresholds are:
ANZ - $1000 per pay. Most ANZ customers will be unable to use the Akahu integration for payroll due to this limit.
ASB - $10,000 per pay.
BNZ - $50,000 per day. Note that this is a cumulative total for all open banking transactions from your account per day.
Kiwibank - No change to current limits.
Westpac - $30,000 per day. Note that this is a cumulative total for all open banking transactions from your account per day.
Transaction fees apply
Due to rising administration costs associated with these new regulatory requirements, a fee of 35c per payee will now apply to all pays processed via the Akahu integration. This fee will be included at the time of processing the pay.
Two-Factor Authentication Removed
The integration no longer requires two-factor authentication. When sending a pay, you'll no longer be prompted to confirm your two-factor authentication code.
Bank Account Selection Pop-Up
The confirmation pop-up you used to see when processing a pay via Akahu will no longer be displayed, unless your Akahu account is authorised to process payments with multiple bank accounts.
Available on All Plans
The Akahu integration will now be available to users subscribed to our Origin plan, as well as the Super and Universe plan.
What do I need to do?
On the evening of April 12th, your Akahu integration will be disconnected. If you wish to continue using Akahu, you'll need to reconnect via Manage > Integrations. We'll send a reminder of this when the time comes.
Please ensure you thoroughly review each of the changes detailed above to determine whether the Akahu integration is still suitable for your business. In particular, it's essential to check the imposed transaction limits for your bank.
We highly recommend that you take this time to explore our other payment methods to ensure you're using the option that best suits your business.
If you have any questions about how these changes affect your specific setup, please contact our support team at support@payhero.co.nz.