Earn high returns and up to $10,000 Deposit Credits on your first home savings. Open an account and we’ll kick in $500 in credits directly towards your future deposit.
start saving now
Choose from a selection of Accelerator mixes to grow your deposit. No account or transaction fees. Exclusively available to Aera members who are saving for their first home. No account or transaction fees. Rates shown are targeted rates and may change.
START BUILDING CREDITS NOW (BETA)
Earn credits in your account that you can use for your deposit. Improve your savings behaviour and reach key milestones to continue building your credit.
Use Aera to help you save and buy your home and we’ll share future commission and fees with you to get you into your first home faster. Here are some of the credits you can earn - and this is just the start!
LEGAL DISCLAIMERS
* Automatic payment must be at least monthly in three consecutive months; 6 month credit requires 6x monthly deposits of an average at least $1000 a month.
Deposit Credits are currently in a beta phase and are applied monthly based on behaviour (from April 2024).
Click here for the full set of Deposit Credit Terms.
Our Deposit Accelerators let you purchase bundles of Underlying Assets which can include asset types such as corporate bonds or retail managed funds. These are publicly available assets that you can access directly if you so choose. Using a Deposit Accelerator to make a purchase has the same risks as buying those same assets through any other method.
This means there is no guarantee that the value of any Underlying Asset you buy will increase, and you may lose the money you start with. Aera does not provide any personalised financial advice or recommendations. You should seek independent legal, financial, taxation and other advice when considering whether or not you should use a Deposit Accelerator.
Timeline assumes the couple commences saving for a deposit and compares Aera's on-call account Deposit Accelerator rate (5.95%) with a major New Zealand bank’s on-call savings rate (4.5%) as at June 2nd 2023.
House purchase price saving assumes that by purchasing a property sooner, the price will have been subject to lower price growth over time. This calculation is based on the future purchase price growth range based on the historical 30 year compound growth rate of 6.8% (REINZ).
Target property starting price assumed to be March 2023 REINZ median Auckland house price ($1,000,600).
Sarah and David are assumed to earn $150,000, approximately the average household Auckland income ($153,000 as at March 2023, Corelogic/Infometrics).
Sarah and David are assumed to contribute 6% of gross salary to Kiwisaver, compounding 5% per annum gross and contribute a monthly deposit savings rate of approx 15% of gross income ($1875 per month).
Past performance of house price appreciation is not indicative of future performance. House price valuations may go up as well as down.
The Overnight Deposit Accelerator is perfect for when you need fast access to your funds. With a 1 day notice period, your funds are never out of reach.
The underlying assets in the Overnight account consist of cash at registered New Zealand banks and cash equivalents (short-term Government and institutional bonds).
Aera’s Overnight is a mix of cash held at a registered New Zealand Bank (10%) and a mix of Cash Funds (90%) (”Underlying Assets”).
The Underlying Assets are held by Aera 22 Nominee Limited as bare trustee on behalf of you, the customer.
When you transfer money into Aera Overnight you will automatically be allocated units of the Underlying Assets. You do not need to do anything further to start generating a return.
Aera Overnight has a notice period that is advised to you at the time of opening the account.
This means that there will be a delay between when you advise us to transfer out of the Underlying Assets to your Everyday account and the time that your money is available to you. The Notice Period is intended to cover expected bank and payment processing times however any unexpected delays due to reasons outside of Aera’s reasonable control will be advised to you as soon as practicable.
The Targeted Daily Rate is per annum variable rate that may go up or down depending on the performance of the Underlying Assets. The rate applicable for each day will be clearly shown on the relevant Aera Overnight page linked from your home screen, and final interest amounts will be deposited to your account daily.
Thirty is great for when you’re ready to commit funds for slightly longer and roll them over. With a 30 days notice period, your funds can be stowed away earning higher interest but still close at hand.
The underlying assets in a Thirty account consist of a mix of cash and short-dated bonds. When a large institution or government entity wants to borrow funds they often issue a bond. These entities are responsible for repaying those bonds over time as well as paying out a return which can be higher than what you might get from cash in a bank account.
Aera makes putting your cash to work through a mix of these types of assets easier by breaking down this complexity into a daily return. This gives you the benefit of achieving a potentially higher return when compared to having your funds just sitting in a bank account.
Aera’s Thirty accelerator is a portfolio of cash (20%) and short-dated bonds issued by Infratil Limited IFTHC 12/29 (40%) and Fletcher Building Limited FBI190 03/25 (40%), (”Underlying Assets”).
The Underlying Assets are held by Aera 22 Nominee Limited as bare trustee on behalf of you, the customer.
When you transfer money into Aera Thirty you will automatically be allocated Underlying Assets. You do not need to do anything further to start generating a return.
Aera Thirty has a notice period that is advised to you at the time of opening the account.
This means that there will be a delay between when you advise us to transfer out of the Underlying Assets to your Everyday account and the time that your money is available to you. The Notice Period is intended to cover expected bank and payment processing times however any unexpected delays due to reasons outside of Aera’s reasonable control will be advised to you as soon as practicable.
The Targeted Daily Rate is a variable per annum rate that may go up or down depending on the performance of the Underlying Assets. The rate applicable for each day will be clearly shown on the relevant Aera Thirty page linked from your home screen, and final interest amounts will be deposited to your account daily.
Three
Three is great for when you’re ready to commit funds for slightly longer and roll them over. With a 3 days notice period, your funds can be stowed away earning a higher return but still close at hand.
The underlying assets in a Three account are a mix of managed funds.
Aera makes putting your cash to work through a mix of these types of assets easier by breaking down this complexity into a daily return. This gives you the benefit of achieving a potentially higher return when compared to having your funds just sitting in a bank account.
What is a Managed Fund?
A managed fund is a group of investments that is put together by a registered fund manager to provide a return. These fund managers are independent to Aera. When you buy units in a managed fund you are getting access to a wide range of assets. These assets are shown on the fund manager's website linked in the product disclosure documents above.
Ninety
Ninety is great for when you’re ready to commit funds for slightly longer and roll them over. With a 90 days notice period, your funds can be stowed away earning a higher return but still close at hand.
The underlying assets in a Ninety account are a mix of cash and short-dated bonds.
Aera makes putting your cash to work through a mix of these types of assets easier by breaking down this complexity into a daily return. This gives you the benefit of achieving a potentially higher return when compared to having your funds just sitting in a bank account.
What is a Bond?
When a large institution or government entity wants to borrow funds they often issue a bond. These entities are responsible for repaying those bonds back over time. They pay out a return to the bond holder in exchange for taking on their borrowing, the return which can be higher than what you might get from cash in a bank account.
Aera is not a registered bank, but we use similar strategies as banks and wealth management firms. Created for first home savers on a mission to accelerate their first home deposit timeline, our Accelerators can give you some of the best rates and flexibility in the market.
New Zealanders with over $1m to invest get far better rates than everyday Kiwis. Aera unlocks this privileged access to first home savers.
Our Accelerators allow members to add funds into assets that can provide better results than leaving their money in major bank savings accounts.
We work with leading wealth managers and major institutions who are able to deliver some of the highest returns in the market.
Today, the median Auckland home requires a deposit of $200,000*, which can take more than 10 years for the average Aucklander to save.
As you save for that deposit, prices continue to increase, taking longer to reach your target. First home buyers without a leg-up from the ‘bank of mum and dad’ have the toughest challenge.
Household income
$150,000
Monthly savings ability
$1,875
335 days faster
With Aera, Sarah and David could save enough for a median home deposit up to 335 days faster.
$130,000 more
Sarah and David could also save $130,000 on their purchase price by buying their first home sooner.**
Securely held funds
Your funds are securely held in a trust with major New Zealand registered banks and financial custodians.
Protection and Security
Aera is built on banking software powering 15 million customers worldwide. Full card control, pin changes and card locking in-app for your member's Visa card.
Leading wealth managers
We’ve partnered with leading institutions who oversee billions of dollars for the wealthy, to give you access to better rates.
FAQs
Right now we are accepting registrations for Early Access. You can pre-register and we will be in touch soon. We will be inviting members who have strong incomes and are already actively saving, to join and build their first home deposit using the Deposit Accelerator.
Through our savings products, Aera lets members add funds into assets that provide different returns than leaving their money in a normal bank savings accounts. Things like government or bank bonds, managed funds and wholesale cash accounts can provide higher returns than you may get just through a retail bank savings account.
Aera is not a registered bank. We are a financial services company that exists to help members get into their own homes, faster. We use similar tools as banks and wealth management firms, but we’re on a mission to pass on as much of the returns as possible to everyday Kiwis like you.
Aera is a New Zealand registered financial services provider (FSP1003388 and FSP1003389 on the NZ Financial Services Provider Register), built by Kiwis for Kiwis. We are members of the Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL# 6905) for disputes as well as being subject to New Zealand regulations.
Aera does not currently offer any regulated financial products where a licence would be required. We are however regulated in accordance with NZ laws, and are a registered financial services provider in NZ (FSP1003388 and FSP1003389 on the NZ Financial Services Provider Register) under the New Zealand Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008.
When you load funds into your Aera accounts or Deposit Accelerators they are held on trust for you by Aera 22 Nominee Limited (the “Trustee”). “On trust” means that the funds are separate from Aera and can only be used as directed by you. The funds are held in major New Zealand bank accounts and financial institutions depending on the Accelerator options you select.
Credits can only be used towards your first home deposit. You unlock them when you use Aera to facilitate the best home loan for you. In the future, bonus credits can be earned if you use Aera to help you with the other needs along the first home saver journey such as insurance, Kiwisaver and your property search.
Deposit Credits do not expire and have no value other than contributing to your first home deposit, at the point of purchase so long as the terms and conditions are met.
