BNZ has simplified its mobile banking offering, replacing the NetGuard cards which customers used to need to provide two-factor authentication with a feature within the app itself.

Created by BNZ's Wellington-based development team, the NetGuard feature turns the phone itself into the second security factor, meaning customers need only enter their banking password to log in via the app.

Andy Symons, director – retail for BNZ says the system ensures transactions are secure but removes the process of having to manually enter separate login details from a NetGuard card.

"In the background, NetGuard is still there generating a unique security code for each and every session,” Symons says, "without impacting the user experience.

BNZ released the initial versions of the app in June last year for iOS and in August for Android. $250 million worth of transactions have been made in that time, and monthly logins are now at 180,000.