Doshback: NZ’s First Fee-free Debit Card Cashbacks

Congratulations once again to Dosh, the winner of a second Canstar’s Innovation Excellence Award. Last year, Dosh won on the merits of being the first digital wallet in New Zealand. And, this year, it’s secured a second Innovation Excellence Award, for its new product Doshback Rewards.

What is Dosh?

Dosh is NZ’s first true digital wallet. Through the Dosh phone app, users can load money onto their Dosh accounts from their personal bank accounts and then make instant payments by selecting a mobile number from a list of contacts, or by scanning a QR Code. This means you can you can send money to, and receive payment from, friends, family and businesses, instantly, at any time, 24/7.

What is Dosh’s new Doshback Rewards?

Doshback Rewards is a debit card cashback rewards program that offers 1% cashback on all spending with no fees. The product was launched at the start of the year, and has already proved very popular with Dosh users.

As the first debit card cashback program in New Zealand, Doshback Rewards is unique. It also differs from other rewards programs by offering cash rather than points, no annual fees, and timely rewards paid out at the start of each calendar month.

When awarding Dosh its second Canstar Innovation Excellence Award, our research panel noted Doshback’s unique features, such as cashback rewards and no annual fees, which make it an attractive alternative to existing credit card reward programs.

They also acknowledged its positive impact on its target market, demonstrated by impressive uptake in just three months. Overall, the judges concurred that Doshback Rewards was a worthy winner for its customer focus, accessibility and timely rewards. And that the product was a clever innovation that provided a great service for Kiwis who are cost-conscious, prefer debit over credit and want to avoid fees.

What are Canstar’s Innovation Excellence Awards?

Canstar’s Innovation Excellence Awards recognise the stand-out innovative financial products to launch in the New Zealand market each year.

Using a unique rating methodology, our expert panel of judges assesses and evaluates submissions on their degree of innovation and their ability to improve the consumer experience. Awards are presented across Canstar’s main financial ratings categories, including the insurance and banking sectors.

When assessing innovations, our judges look for the following qualities:

• The impact the innovation will have on improving or affecting a consumer’s day-to-day life
• How the innovation stands out from products already available in the NZ market
• What gives the innovation wow factor
• If the innovation is accessible, easy to understand and/or affordable

Why use Dosh?

Sending other Dosh users money is as simple as a few taps of your screen. Just click their name and hit send. There’s no bank transfer happening, so you don’t need any annoying bank details. This makes the process of transferring money between friends quick and painless.

And because Dosh is used just like cash – digital cash – you can also use it as a payment option. Businesses display a Dosh QR code, which you scan to pay.

Some ways Dosh can smooth your day-to-day payments, include:

1. Your friend never paid you back that $20 he owes. Simply open Dosh, and send a payment request. Your friend will receive a notification of the request, and a quick confirmation on their end will see the money instantly put into your Dosh account.
2. You do a quick job for someone and they usually pay you by bank transfer. Because it’s the weekend, the money won’t come through until Monday. With Dosh, the money goes straight into your Dosh account, with no waiting.
3. You and your friends go out to a restaurant that only accepts one bill per table. Instead of giving everyone your bank details (and hoping they all remember to transfer you their share of the tab), simply split up the bill on Dosh, and send everyone a payment request. They can then send you any money owed in an instant.
4. You don’t carry cash and you left your card at home. If the business accepts Dosh, simply scan the QR code with your phone and pay.

How do I get Dosh?

Dosh can be downloaded easily from the app store, and is available on both Apple and Android devices. Once downloaded, setting up an account is easy, and only takes a few minutes.

What you’ll need

To join Dosh, you need an NZ driver’s licence or passport as a form of ID. In some cases, you may be asked to provide proof of address.

How much does Dosh cost to use?

Best of all Dosh is free to use. Loading money onto your account is free, as is sending and receiving Dosh payments and transferring money out of your Dosh wallet into a nominated bank account. Although transactions made in a foreign currency have a 2% currency margin added to the conversion rate.

For all Innovation Excellence Award winners click here!

About the author of this page

This report was written by Canstar’s Editor, Bruce Pitchers. Bruce has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in the UK and Australasia, including ACP, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. Prior to Canstar, he worked as a freelancer, including for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority, and for real estate companies on both sides of the Tasman.