FHINZ Authors & Editorial Team: Meet Our NZ Experts

Our team combines hands-on iGaming experience, sports journalism and a fintech background, all filtered through a Kiwi lens. Between them they cover casinos, sports betting and crypto payments, and they follow New Zealand regulation closely — including the incoming Online Casino Gambling Act and the arrival of DIA-licensed casinos in Q1 2027. Here's who they are and what they cover.

Daniel Kahu — Casino Reviews Lead

Bio. Daniel has spent more than a decade in the iGaming industry, first on the operator side building and testing casino products, and now on the independent review side where he leads casino coverage for FHINZ. Based in Auckland, he has personally opened, funded and cashed out of hundreds of online casinos, which is exactly why he's sceptical of a good-looking bonus until he's read the fine print. He started FHINZ's real-money testing programme and wrote the first draft of our scoring methodology.

Expertise. Casino bonus structures and wagering requirements, pokie RTP and volatility, live dealer platforms, licensing across Curaçao, Anjouan and Malta, KYC and withdrawal processes, and the practical reality of NZD banking at offshore casinos.

What he covers. Our online casino rankings, online pokies, no-deposit and free spins offers, fast-payout casinos and the majority of individual operator reviews. Daniel also owns our review methodology and the blocklist.

Aroha Ngata — Sports Betting Editor

Bio. Aroha came to FHINZ from a career in sports journalism, where she spent years covering rugby, league and cricket for New Zealand outlets. That background gives her an unusual eye for value: she reads a betting market the way she'd read a match report, and she knows the difference between a genuinely sharp price and a padded one. Based in Wellington, she benchmarks every offshore bookmaker against the NZ-licensed TAB so readers can see exactly what they gain — and give up — by going offshore.

Expertise. Odds comparison and value assessment, bookmaker markets and limits, live/in-play betting, welcome-offer terms for bettors, and the New Zealand sporting calendar — All Blacks and Super Rugby Pacific, the NZ Warriors in the NRL, the Black Caps, the Silver Ferns and the All Whites and Wellington Phoenix in football.

What she covers. Our sports betting rankings, TAB-versus-offshore comparisons, and event coverage including FIFA World Cup 2026 betting.

Tama Wright — Crypto & Payments Analyst

Bio. Tama comes from a fintech background, having worked on payments and compliance before turning that expertise to the crypto-casino space for FHINZ. Based in Christchurch, he's the person who actually times how long a Bitcoin withdrawal takes to hit a wallet, and who tests whether an operator's "NZD support" is real or just a display currency. He's a pragmatist about crypto — enthusiastic about instant, low-fee withdrawals, but clear-eyed about volatility and the tax questions that come with disposing of cryptoassets.

Expertise. Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and Litecoin deposits and withdrawals, provably-fair gaming, no-KYC and low-KYC crypto casinos, NZD-to-crypto on-ramps such as Easy Crypto, transaction fees and confirmation times, and the IRD's treatment of cryptoassets as property.

What he covers. Our crypto casino rankings, Bitcoin and other coin-specific pages, and all payment-method guides for Kiwi players.

How our team works

Our editors write within their areas of expertise and cross-check each other's work. Every operator recommendation is grounded in the real-money testing process described in our review methodology, and every published page carries a named author and a "last updated" date so you always know who stands behind it and how current it is. If you spot something that needs correcting, email the team at [email protected] or use our contact page.