Case study · Fintech · New Zealand

Paagaa: core referral features in 3 weeks, then a budgeting app

Paagaa, the New Zealand fintech from Willie and Natalie Leota of Fresh Moni, had the core features of its financial adviser referral platform working three weeks after our first commit, then grew with us into an open banking budgeting app where Claude writes the plans and plain code checks every number.

By Blake HarknessPublished Updated

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The Paagaa waitlist page: head in the sand? Good. Stay there. Beside it, a phone shows a demo balance, goal progress and spending by category, including whanau support
Client
Paagaa, founded by Willie and Natalie Leota (Fresh Moni)
Industry
Fintech: adviser referrals and personal budgeting
Location
New Zealand
What we did
Built the referral platform, then the Paagaa app, with ongoing development

In numbers

  • 3 wksfrom the first commit to working core referral features
  • Aug 2026first live open banking bank connection
  • Read-onlybank access: Paagaa can see money, never move it
  • 2products from one build partner

The short version

  • Financial advisers had no real system for sending, receiving or tracking referrals, and Willie and Natalie Leota wanted to go further, into budgeting for people who hate budgeting.
  • We rebuilt an early prototype as a production referral platform, then built Paagaa, an open banking budgeting app where Claude writes the plans and plain code does the maths.
  • The referral platform's core features worked three weeks after the first commit, and the Paagaa app made its first live bank connection in August 2026 ahead of launch.

The problem

Advisers had no real system for passing on referrals

Willie and Natalie have spent 18 years in conversations about money. Willie, a former mortgage adviser, saw that advisers had no real system for sending, receiving or tracking referrals.

The first brief: a referral platform for financial professionals across New Zealand and Australia. It started as a prototype, and it needed to become something advisers could rely on.

The Paagaa referral board: referral cards in New, Contacted, In Progress and Successful columns, with received and sent tabs
The referral board, shown with demo data.

The solution

A referral platform first, then a budgeting app on open banking

We rebuilt the prototype on a production stack, then kept building as the idea grew.

  1. The Paagaa adviser marketplace: search by name, specialty and location, with adviser cards showing specialty, rating, location and a Connect button
    The adviser marketplace, shown with demo profiles.
    January - February 2026

    The referral platform

    A kanban board for every referral, encrypted messaging between advisers, a public adviser marketplace and an admin portal.

  2. June - August 2026

    The Paagaa app

    An open banking budgeting app: spending, goals and messaging with an adviser. The first live bank connection went through in August 2026.

Inside the Paagaa app

Paagaa spending screen: $3,204 spent this month, split into groceries, eating out, transport and subscriptions, with a note that eating out is up $74 on last month
Spending sorted by category.
Paagaa goals screen: $3,150 of $6,000 saved for Japan next winter, $61 a week keeps it on time, plus progress on an emergency fund and house deposit
A goal, and the weekly amount it needs.
The Paagaa coach in messages: it flags a higher power bill, then answers that the Japan goal is still on track with $88 spare a week
The coach answers in plain words. Demo figures throughout.

Claude writes the plan, plain code does the maths and checks it

Money advice has to be right. So AI does the writing, and plain code does the maths and checks the AI's work.

  1. Bank connects read-onlyThrough BlinkPay open banking. Paagaa can see money, never move it.
  2. Code sorts the spendingPlain rules, not AI, with categories like koha, fa'alavelave and remittances.
  3. Claude writes the planBudgets, debt plans and goal roadmaps, written from totals only.
  4. Every number checkedA figure that doesn't match the maths never reaches the person.
  5. An adviser for advicePeople can message a real adviser. The app gives information only.

The coach never recommends a financial product.

Bank data stays read-only, logged and deletable

  • People log in on their own bank's page - Paagaa never sees the password.
  • Multi-factor authentication is required for anything that touches bank data.
  • An append-only log records every time bank data is accessed.
  • People can delete their own data.
  • Messages are encrypted before they are stored.
The Paagaa bank connection page on a phone: what connecting does, and exactly what Paagaa can read - account names, balances and about 12 months of transactions, read-only

In their words

Blake took the time to understand our vision and explained the technical side in a way that was easy to follow, making the whole process simple and stress-free. He took a complex idea and turned it into something practical, clear and user-friendly. Great work, great communication, and a great experience from start to finish.

Willie LeotaCo-founder, Fresh Moni

Visit Paagaa

The result

Working referral features in three weeks, a live bank connection by August

The referral platform had its core features working three weeks after the first commit. Advisers got a board for every referral, encrypted messaging and a public marketplace to find each other.

The Paagaa app made its first live open banking connection in August 2026. Stripe subscription billing went in during September, and Paagaa is taking waitlist sign-ups ahead of launch.

We are still Paagaa's build partner, adding to the app as Willie and Natalie shape what comes next.

Questions people ask

How long did the Paagaa build take?

The referral platform's core features were working three weeks after the first commit, in early 2026. The budgeting app was built between June and August 2026, when its first live bank connection went through.

Can Paagaa move money out of a bank account?

No. Bank access runs through BlinkPay open banking and is read-only. People log in on their own bank's page, Paagaa never sees the password, and every access to bank data is logged.

Does the AI give financial advice?

No. Claude writes budgets and plans from totals only, plain code checks every figure before a person sees it, and the coach never recommends a financial product. For advice, people can message a real adviser.

How do we start a similar fintech build?

Bring the idea, or a prototype if you have one. We rebuild what matters on a production stack with the guardrails in from day one, then keep building with you as the product grows.

More case studies

Building a fintech product?

Open banking, adviser tools, AI that has to get the numbers right. We build it with the guardrails in from day one.

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Last updated 29 September 2026