Joy Pilot makes managing your finances easy and seamless. By connecting your bank accounts using Akahu, a trustworthy New Zealand-based service, you can securely import account balances and transactions directly into Joy Pilot. This guide explains step-by-step how to set up, manage, and maintain an Akahu bank feed.
⚠️ If you are a UK or EU user, you are in the wrong place - please use this guide instead: Setting Up Your Bank Feed via Salt Edge - For UK & EU Users
Step 1: Starting your Bank Feed Setup
Go to the Banking screen in your Joy Pilot account.
Click the "[+ Bank Feed]" link.
From the list of providers, select "Akahu".
An introductory screen explaining what Akahu does will appear. Click Continue to move forward.
Step 2: Authorising Akahu to Access Bank Information
Joy Pilot will display a prompt asking for your permission to connect your bank accounts via Akahu.
Review the information carefully, and then click Continue to authorise access.
Step 3: Email Verification
Akahu uses the email address you're currently logged in with on Joy Pilot.
Akahu will send an email with a verification code to your inbox—open your email inbox.
Locate the Akahu email, copy the provided verification code, and paste it back into the verification form in Joy Pilot.
Click Continue to proceed.
Step 4: Selecting and Connecting Your Bank
You will see a list of New Zealand banks supported by Akahu (such as ASB, HSBC, ANZ, Westpac, etc.).
Select your bank from this list.
Enter your online banking login credentials (your Username and Password).
Ensure you have access to your banking app or two-factor authentication (for example Netcode) if prompted.
Note: If you have used Akahu before, your credentials may already be saved securely, and you might not need to log in again.
Step 5: Choosing Accounts to Link
Once logged in, you’ll see a list of your bank accounts (such as Current, Savings, or Business accounts).
Select the specific accounts you wish to connect to Joy Pilot by ticking the respective checkboxes.
Click Update to confirm and establish the feed to those accounts.
Step 6: Linking Your Bank Feed to a Joy Pilot Bank Account
Once your bank feed is set up, the next step is to link it to a bank account in Joy Pilot. There are two ways to do this:
Option 1: If You Have Already Added Your Bank Account to Joy Pilot
Link to an Existing Bank Account
In the Bank Accounts section, locate the bank feed you’ve just added. It will be shown in black text next to ‘Bank Feeds’.
Below that, account details will be listed. Click the 🛜 Bank Feed Link icon next to the bank account that you want to connect with.
A list of your existing bank feeds will appear.
Select the correct account from this list and click Save.
That’s it! Your bank feed is now linked — noted by the bank feed icon turning green.
Option 2 – Add a New Bank Account Using an Existing Bank Feed
Use this option if you’ve already set up a bank feed in Step 1, but the associated bank account has not yet been added to Joy Pilot. This process will create a new bank account within Joy Pilot and link it to the existing bank feed.
Link to a New Bank Account
Go to the Banking section and click ‘Add New’.
Select the bank feed you created earlier.
Click ‘Save’ to complete the setup.
Once saved, Joy Pilot will automatically retrieve and display the details of your new bank account and the connection will be established.
Once connected
Once connected, you will see additional icons and options appear for the bank account feed. These options allow you to:
🔄 Refresh – Import new transactions from the bank feed
📅 Transaction List – View previous transactions pulled in via the feed
ℹ️ Account Info – See details like account number and available balance
🏦 Balance History – View a historical record of daily closing balances (automatically stored each day when the feed is active)
Step 7: Importing Your Bank Transactions
With your bank feed successfully connected, it's time to import your transactions.
⚠️ This only needs to be done once, when the bank feed is first set up for each account. There after, Joy Pilot will automatically import new transactions every day.
Click on the 🔄 Refresh icon (as mentioned above) and a list of available bank transitions will be displayed
Select the transactions you want to be imported (all transactions are selected by default)
Click 'import' button.
Step 8: Managing or Removing Your Akahu Bank Feed
You have flexibility when it comes to managing or removing bank feeds:
To unlink (disconnect) a feed that's been incorrectly matched:
Click the bank feed link.
Select Unlink, confirming when prompted.
To refresh your feed data manually:
Simply click the Refresh icon located beside your bank feed.
To completely remove an Akahu feed:
Click Remove—this action entirely disconnects Joy Pilot from Akahu.
To reconnect later, you'll need to start the setup again from scratch.
Summary
Great job! You've successfully linked your bank to Joy Pilot using Akahu. Now, your transactions and account balances sync seamlessly, helping you efficiently keep track of your finances.