How Reallo actually works

Reallo doesn't ask you to save. It asks for nothing.

Connect

Reallo connects to your bank through Akahu, New Zealand's open banking platform. It can see your transactions and move money to a destination you set up yourself, but it never sees your login, never holds your money, and you can disconnect any time.

It reads your real cashflow: what comes in, what goes out, and what your everyday life actually costs. Not a budget you have to set.

Three rules, one move a week

You choose your pace, and you can change it whenever you like. Reallo works out the amount and does the moving.

What you can spare. Reallo reads your cashflow and works out what you can spare that week. Your pace, Chill, Steady or Eager, scales it. You never pick the amount.

The catch. When a week's spending is lighter than usual, the difference moves before it becomes next week's spending money, up to twice what your cashflow can spare. A quieter week, a takeaway you skipped, a subscription you cancelled: all of it leaves more room.

Round-ups. The change from every purchase, moved with the rest.

Why the whole difference?

Because it's money you didn't miss. A quiet week on the takeaways means that money was never part of your week, so Reallo moves it before it turns into next week's spending. There's a ceiling: the catch tops out at twice what your cashflow can spare, so one unusually quiet week can't turn into a windfall transfer. And if your balance is tight on move night, the catch stays in your account and what your cashflow can spare still moves.

Move

Every dollar Reallo moves goes to a destination you chose: cash, KiwiSaver, an investment account, or a split across them. You pick the destination once. From then on, Reallo works out what you can spare and moves it at your pace, on its own, every week.

Which one suits what you are saving for, and why KiwiSaver is not an option for every goal, is answered in where the money can go.

You're never left short

Reallo only ever moves what your cashflow can spare, and never takes you under your buffer. On a tight week it drops your round-ups first, then the catch, and still moves what your cashflow can spare. If even that would take you under your buffer, it holds off entirely. What your cashflow can spare is never trimmed to fit: it moves in full or not at all.

Once a move has gone to your bank we cannot pull it back, which is why the buffer does the work up front.

Stopping a move

On move day, at midday, we email you a heads-up: what is about to move, and a one-tap link to skip it. That figure is locked in when the email goes out. If your balance drops before the move, Reallo can still drop the round-ups or the catch, so what moves can come in lower. The move itself runs at 8pm, so that is eight hours to do nothing, or to skip.

Treat that email as a courtesy rather than a promise. We cannot guarantee it arrives, so the app is the sure way: skip this week's move, or pause or stop your moves in Settings, any time before the move runs. Change your mind after skipping and you can undo that too, right up until the move was due.

What a tight week actually looks like

Say it is a Wednesday and your balance is lower than usual. Reallo has already worked out a move, but before it goes it checks your live balance against your buffer. If the whole move would take you under, it drops your round-ups first, then the catch. If what your cashflow can spare still doesn't fit, nothing moves that week. Your receipt says what stayed with you, and it picks up again next week.

That is the part worth understanding. Reallo would rather move less, or skip a week, than leave you short on a Thursday.

No budgets. No transfers. No willpower. Your future builds quietly in the background.