About Maia Anderson
Maia Anderson is the Compliance & Payments Editor at DairyNZ Schools. Based in Auckland, she brings eight years of experience in New Zealand fintech and gambling-industry analysis. Before joining DairyNZ Schools, Maia worked across payments compliance, KYC/AML programmes, and consumer protection in the NZ open-banking ecosystem.
Maia is responsible for fact-checking every casino review and guide published on this site. When Hunter Campbell writes that a casino paid out his NZ$200 withdrawal in 14 hours, Maia verifies the timestamps. When a bonus is described as "35x wagering with full slot contribution", Maia confirms the operator's terms-and-conditions actually say so — and flags any ambiguities back to Hunter before publication.
Areas of expertise
- NZ regulation — the Gambling Act 2003, the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, and the Department of Internal Affairs licensing framework
- Operator licensing — Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), Curaçao Gaming Control Board, Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and how their player-protection regimes differ
- NZ payment rails — Akahu open banking, POLi, Worldline, NZ$ bank transfers, and how each interacts with KYC/AML obligations
- Bonus terms and consumer fairness — wagering multipliers, max-bet rules, game contribution percentages, withdrawal caps
- Responsible gambling compliance — harm-minimisation provisions of the new Act, self-exclusion tools, deposit and loss limits
- KYC and AML — what verification documents NZ players are asked for, why, and how long it should take
Fact-checking process
Every page on DairyNZ Schools goes through Maia's review before publication. Her process covers four stages:
- Source verification. For every factual claim — licence numbers, payout times, bonus terms, RTP figures — Maia checks the primary source. Operator T&Cs are read in full, not summarised from marketing copy. Licence claims are verified against the issuing regulator's public register where available.
- Regulatory alignment. Maia checks every recommendation against current NZ legal context, including the offshore-duty changes (raised from 12% to 16% in October 2025) and the licensing timeline under the 2026 Act. Operators whose claims conflict with the regulatory reality are flagged for re-review.
- Math check. Bonus expected-value claims are recalculated. If Hunter writes that "a NZ$100 bonus with 35x wagering on a 96% RTP pokie has a theoretical breakeven of NZ$23", Maia checks the maths.
- Responsible gambling language. Every page is checked for tone — no "guaranteed wins", no "chase your losses", no "risk-free" framing. The 18+ disclaimer and Gambling Helpline references are required on every commercial page.
Experience & credentials
Maia's eight-year background spans payments compliance at NZ fintechs, consultancy work on KYC/AML programmes, and contributions to public-consultation submissions on NZ gambling regulation. She has tracked the development of the Online Casino Gambling Act since the Department of Internal Affairs began drafting in 2024 and continues to follow license-application progress as Expressions of Interest open in July 2026 ahead of the 1 December 2026 deadline.
What Maia fact-checks
- Every casino review — licence, bonus T&Cs, payment methods, withdrawal speed claims
- Every guide — regulatory statements, math, payment-method descriptions
- Homepage rankings — the methodology behind operator ordering
- The responsible-gambling sections sitewide
Why a fact-checker matters
Affiliate sites have a structural conflict: they earn commission when readers sign up to recommended casinos, which creates an incentive to soften criticism. Maia's role is to be the friction. If a casino's payout claim doesn't match its public T&Cs, the review changes — not the casino, and not the verdict on its T&Cs.
This approach matches the standard set by trusted international affiliate sites and is, in Maia's view, the minimum bar for NZ players ahead of the new licensed regime in 2027.
Have a question on payments, licensing, or regulation? Get in touch, or learn more about Hunter Campbell, our lead reviewer.