17 January 2023

Felix Lee

[FYI request #21005 email]

Tēnā koe Felix Lee

On 1 November 2022, you emailed the Ministry of Social Development (the
Ministry) requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982  (the Act), the
following information:
•  I would like to request any correspondents, memos, minutes, or other
documents that relates to Dosh mobile wallet app, its founders Shane
Marsh, James McEniery, and the company MCA Investments Limited and
its staff.
On 29 November 2022, the Ministry emailed you to advise that more time was
required to respond to your request. The reason for the extension is that
consultations  necessary  to  make  a  decision  on  the  request  are  such  that  a
proper response to the request could not reasonably be made within the
original time limit.
Thank you for your confirmation that staff names under tier four are out of
scope of your request. You will note that these have therefore been redacted.
You will note that the information regarding some individuals is withheld
under section 9(2)(a) of the Act in order to protect the privacy of natural
persons. The need to protect the privacy of these individuals outweighs any
public interest in this information.
You will find enclosed the email correspondence regarding the Dosh mobile
wallet app that the Ministry holds, between its founders Shane Marsh, James
McEniery, and the company MCA Investments Limited and its staff and the
Ministry.
The Ministry did not take minutes for the meeting on 18 March 2022 at
11:30am between the Team Leader for Building and Financial Capability and
the founders of Dosh Mobile Wallet App, but can advise that the discussion
covered during this meeting was regarding the background to the
development of Dosh Mobile Wallet app and who had supported this project.

The Ministry advised that while the app sounded interesting it wasn’t
something that we would be looking to support as our focus is on the
community providers’ delivery of financial capability services.
The Ministry followed up the engagement with Dosh by passing on to the
Ministry’s Information Technology Services for consideration. This
information can be seen in the attached emails. This proposed project did not
go any further within the Ministry.
The principles and purposes of the Official Information Act 1982 under which
you made your request are:
•  to create greater openness and transparency about the plans, work and
activities of the Government,
•  to  increase  the  ability  of  the  public  to  participate  in  the  making  and
administration of our laws and policies and
•  to lead to greater accountability in the conduct of public affairs.
This Ministry fully supports those principles and purposes. The Ministry
therefore  intends  to  make  the  information  contained  in  this  letter  and  any
attached documents available to the wider public. The Ministry will do this by
publishing this letter and attachment on the Ministry’s website. Your personal
details will be deleted, and the Ministry will not publish any information that
would identify you as the person who requested the information.
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[MSD request email].
If you are not satisfied with this response  on the Dosh mobile wallet app
correspondence, you have the right to seek an investigation and review by the
Ombudsman.  Information  about  how  to  make  a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi nui

Mark Henderson
General Manager
Safe Strong Families and Communities
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