BNZ direct feeds are available in Farm Focus. This is the first of the banks to be available through an API connection where both interfaces can talk to each other.
This means that the connection is instant, as is the disconnection, with your instructions from Farm Focus interacting directly with BNZ.
You may already have existing BNZ accounts for your business that are currently manually entered, or you may have new bank accounts that you want to connect.
See the instructions below for
(1) Setting up a connection for an existing BNZ manual account, and
(2) Setting up your connection for a new BNZ account
Before you start make sure you have a valid BNZ bank account number.
Set up connections for existing Manual Accounts
Go to Settings > Bank Accounts
If you have existing BNZ accounts listed, click on the one(s) you want to connect. These existing accounts will be flagged as Manual Accounts.
Scroll down, checking that all of your information is correct, then at the bottom click on Setup Bank feed.
You will be redirected to the BNZ internet banking login screen. Enter your credentials and click the login button.
You will be required to confirm your connection and also Authorise Farm Focus to view the banking information listed below.
This will take you through to select which accounts you want to authorise a connection with. Select all relevant options and then click Connect. If you want to choose all of your accounts you can click the Select All option.
The connection will now be live and this will show in your Settings > Connectors with BNZ connection Active.
You will need to finish setting up the information for your accounts. Go to your Settings > Bank Accounts and you will see the accounts flagged in blue with Finish setting up your BNZ account.
Enter the bank feed start date as the date you want to see your transactions. You can backdate this if needed. Click Save, and all of your transactions for that period will appear in your Needs Action screen.
Set up connections for a new BNZ Account
In Settings > Bank accounts you will see the option for Add bank account.
When you select BNZ from the bank drop-down list you will be prompted through the steps above to set up and authorise the connection with BNZ.
After a successful connection, you will be redirected back to the New Bank Accounts page.
You can select the bank accounts you want to start a bank feed for, this can include other existing manual accounts. Click Connect.
Go to your Bank Accounts to finish setting up. This will include adding in the bank feed start date.
You will notice now that you cannot edit the Account name and Account number as they are fed from the bank.
Disconnecting BNZ accounts
There are a few options available in Farm Focus for disconnecting your bank feed. You can choose to either disconnect individual accounts or disconnect your entire BNZ feed. Follow the steps below to learn how.
Disconnect individual accounts
Click on Settings > Bank Accounts and select the account you wish to disconnect.
Click to Stop the bank feed
The account will now be a Manual account and any transaction going forward will need to be input manually, or exported via a downloaded file.
Disconnect the entire BNZ feed
Click on Settings > Connectors and choose the BNZ option
Click to Disconnect BNZ
The BNZ connection will now cease and your accounts will be a manual input.
Remove BNZ completely
If you have changed banks or no longer have BNZ bank accounts that you want to bring into Farm Focus you can choose to remove your bank account information completely.
Click into Settings > Bank Accounts and select the relevant account(s).
Ensure the account status is Active and then click to Remove Bank Account.
This bank account will no longer appear throughout Farm Focus.
Troubleshooting
Reconnecting with BNZ
If you have not logged into Farm Focus for 60 days, for security reasons, BNZ will cut your connection to Farm Focus. There are two notifications you may receive.
If you are not the subscription owner:
If you are the subscription owner:
The subscription owner must click on Reconnect now. The subscription owner will be asked to enter the details they entered when they first set up their BNZ connection. This will reconnect the BNZ bank feed.
Incorrect prefix
You will see a warning message if the bank selected is BNZ but the account number does not start with the 02 prefix.