Iran war: The businesses in demand thanks to Trump's war on Iran

Tuesday, 7 April 2026

There are few businesses experiencing anything positive from the fuel price spike prompted by the US bombing or Iran.

But Extraordinary, which allows users to pay for public transport from their pre-tax income, and the Workride tax-free bicycle-buying scheme, are two that are.

Steven Zinsli, Extraordinary chief executive, says: “If you told me that I was going to have 60 of the largest businesses in the country inbound emailing me asking to book meetings immediately to talk about public transport … three months ago, I would have told you that it was a joke.”

But that’s what’s happening as more workers turn to public transport in a bid to save money as petrol prices have surged past $3.40 for 91 petrol.

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Already Extraordinary counts huge corporates including Air NZ, Spark, 2degrees and Deloitte among its customers, seeing it as a way of encouraging workers to continue coming to the office to do their work, and as a way of giving workers who commute by bus and train a financial boost.

The reason for the surge in interest is that Extraordinary allows employers to set up virtual Mastercard accounts so their employees can pay for public transport fares to work from their pre-tax income, potentially saving them hundreds of dollars a year.

Workride, which partners with Extraordinary, allows employers of participating companies to buy bikes and electric bikes from their pre-tax incomes.

Effectively, it’s salary sacrificing by workers which adds up to something akin to a pay rise.

Both have product rulings from Inland Revenue that their schemes are acceptable under the Income Tax Act.

While tax-free public transport is the part of its business getting the most publicity, it’s only a part of the Extraordinary business.

The name Extraordinary refers to the many kinds of payments made by companies to employees by employers who are signed up to the scheme.

These are extraordinary payments on top of the normal salary workers get. This may include one-off payments for exceptional work and dedication, or a sum of money to spend on joining a gym.

Zinsli isn’t keen on getting too political over US President Donald Trump, who is unrepentent about the damage he’s doing to the economies of the US’ long-standing allies like Australia, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand.

But he does say: “I heard a joke the other day that Donald Trump's done more for sustainable transport than any other person in the whole world.”

Before the oil crisis caused by Trump’s attacks on Iran, interest in Extraordinary and Workride’s transport benefits was a little slow.

“Now it's like exponentially growing at such a rate that my one of my salespeople is booked out three weeks in advance,” he says.

Workride’s Aiden Smith says: “There’s a silver lining on every cloud.”

Smith says the aim of Workride and Extraordinary is to have 10% of the workforce covered by their schemes by the end of the year, and 20% by the end of next year.

And while that might sound like a huge hit for the government’s tax take, Smith and Zinsli believe it will merely provide a delayed benefit to the Government’s coffers.

More money will remain in circulation, and will be spent on all manner of goods and services, boosting the economy, and GST that flows to the government.

And, Smith says, fit people like cyclists are demonstrably more productive workers, and take less sick leave.