At Otto, our mission started with a simple question: what if we could make finance fun?

Because, let’s be honest: paying down debt and saving money are important, but they aren't much fun at the time. Progress can be slow, the rewards can seem distant, and budgeting is a bit like watching paint dry.

There are rewards programmes for your spending, and those can be fun. Who doesn’t like a few cents off their petrol or a discount on their weekly grocery shop? Still, they’re not exactly helping you build good financial habits – they don’t reward you for not spending money.

Even for those who do manage to set something aside for the future, it can be tempting to shoot for the moon with stocks, cryptocurrencies, and even Lotto tickets. We understand that impulse too – after all, how great would it be to make it big in an instant?

So, if we could all be doing more to take control of our finances, why is it so hard to get enthusiastic about it? There are plenty of apps that make it easier than ever to invest, apply for a loan, or create a budget. They’re helpful tools once you know what you’re doing, but they still feel more like work than play.

We saw this as an opportunity to create something new and exciting with Otto.

What if building healthy financial habits felt less like a chore and more like playing a game? What if you actually got rewarded along the way, not just way off in the future but now, too? That’s our goal, to make that dream a reality here in New Zealand.