As you might have heard, Hnry is ringing in the New Year with new Hnry Accounts for our customers.
The main reason for the switch is that over the past few months, we’ve been hearing feedback from some of our customers that the old requirement of asking clients to include a ‘unique Hnry reference’ on payments was inconvenient. We heard your stories – maybe you get paid by an international client, maybe you run an online business with a PayPal integration – and saw how the reference code system wasn’t quite working. So we got to thinking about how we might improve the process.
How could we set out to relieve inconvenience in a way that benefits everyone? Obviously removing the need for a Hnry reference was a priority. But we also have a lot of ambitions for the Hnry service that we know will lift it to new heights. After observing all of the different ways our customers earn their income, there are features that we’d like to incorporate as we grow further. We knew a switch had to be made – not just in the way we process payments but also in association with the features we can eventually bring to our customers. So we searched for a new banking partner that was suitably aligned with the Hnry ethos and fully understood our long term direction - and found ASB New Zealand.
Why ASB?
We wanted to partner with a bank that shared our long-term ambitions and could support us in delivering what we have planned on our product roadmap over the next year and beyond. ASB emerged as a strong strategic partner – one that we knew shared our vision for helping Kiwis, who we could work with on cool features for the future.
“We are excited about what Hnry is delivering and the opportunity for us to partner together. It’s a really exciting opportunity for both ASB and Hnry, and we look forward to many successes in the future.”
Garett Hines, Senior Manager – Consultancy - ASB
Our transition to new Hnry Accounts is simply the tip of the iceberg – just the first in a series of platform upgrades we know will improve efficiency for all. Not only will the switch allow every Hnry customer to have their own unique Hnry Account, but now customers will never need to ask clients to use a reference on invoices ever again! Payments will be processed faster than ever before, with less chance of delay due to missing references.
Can You Tell How Excited We Are?
The last thing we want to do is reveal our hand but it’s true: we are very excited about what’s to come.
At least in the short term, the only thing that’s really going to change is that all Hnry customers will receive a new Bank Account Number through Hnry: unique to the customer and held in trust with ASB New Zealand. But the implications of the bank switch and account transitions will mean that we can build even more awesomeness into the Hnry platform in the very near future.
What’s Going to Change?
As our customer base has grown exponentially over 2018, so too have our ambitions. We’ve observed the large variety of different customers who use the Hnry service to process their independent income and have identified areas where we can improve the process for those various customers.
So with the new Hnry Accounts, here’s a detailed list of what will change:
- Your new Hnry account will be in your name so you’ll no longer need that Hnry reference. Now whenever you get paid, you’ll be able to just give your account number (as you would do with other bank transfers).
- This means it’ll now be easier to get clients to pay directly into your Hnry account and the payment will clear much faster than it did before, with absolutely no delays.
- In the past, Hnry customers who earned through Paypal, Airbnb, Uber and OLA has to manually transfer payments from their personal bank accounts into their Hnry Accounts. Now they can get paid directly into their Hnry Account and we’ll calculate out everything, just as one would from a steady client.
- Payments from international clients can now be made directly, using the customer’s Hnry Account.
Hnry will continue to be your personal concierge when it comes to handling tax, compliance and levy payments. Our service is constantly improving and every change we make is with that sustained vision of where we want to take the Hnry service. The switch to ASB New Zealand is simply the first step in accomplishing those goals. Stay tuned for those future updates but for now, we hope you enjoy the Christmas break and have a very Happy New Year!
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