> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ai2fin.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Akahu — New Zealand banks with a free personal app

> Connect ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, ANZ NZ, Westpac NZ and other New Zealand banks to the AI2Fin desktop app through your own Akahu personal app. Two tokens, read-only, free, refreshed daily. Desktop and self-hosted.

<Info>
  **Available in:** Desktop app · Self-hosted  |  **Reach:** 🇳🇿 all major banks  |  **Cost:** free personal Akahu app; a paid AI2Fin plan
</Info>

## What it is

[Akahu](https://akahu.nz) is New Zealand's open-finance layer. A **personal
app** at *My Akahu* is free, covers your own accounts, and gives you two tokens.
You link your banks there — Akahu runs the consent — and paste the tokens into
AI2Fin. AI2Fin never sees a banking credential and you revoke at Akahu.

## Connect

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a personal app">
    [my.akahu.io](https://my.akahu.io/) → create a personal app → connect your
    banks.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Copy the two tokens">
    **User access token** (the long one — it unlocks access) and **App ID
    token** (the short one, `app_token_…`, which names the app). Both are
    stored encrypted; neither is ever placed in a URL.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Paste into AI2Fin">
    Connectors → **Akahu** → both fields → **Connect**. Your accounts are
    listed immediately.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What syncs

Accounts, balances and transactions from every bank linked to the personal app.
Akahu refreshes a personal app about **once a day**, so AI2Fin polls this feed
daily rather than every 15 minutes — polling faster would only burn the free
tier's quota for the same data.

## Why desktop only

Akahu's Developer Terms put production and multi-user use behind accreditation
and signed commercial terms; a personal app is not that. On your own machine,
AI2Fin is software you run reading your own accounts — what a personal app is
for. A self-hosted instance that has obtained commercial terms can enable it
with `BYO_PERSONAL_TOKENS_HOSTED=true`.

## Frequently asked

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Which is the secret token?">
    Both are treated as secret and masked. Mixing them up is the common error:
    the *user* token is the long one, the *app* token starts with `app_token_`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I need NZ in the cloud">
    Use [BankSync](/connectors/banksync) or [RedBark](/connectors/redbark),
    both of which reach New Zealand and run in the cloud.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>