NZBA Media Announcement: New Zealand banks to launch Confirmation of Payee by year-end

In April 2024, the New Zealand Banking Association (NZBA) announced on behalf of the banking industry that New Zealand’s retail banks were preparing to introduce a new service called Confirmation of Payee by the end of this year.

This is a summary of the article.

The Confirmation of Payee service will allow you to check if the account name you’ve entered matches the name registered to the account, before completing a transaction. This feature aims to prevent sending money to the wrong account and may help identify potential scam payments.

Banks are also ramping up their efforts to tackle scams with other initiatives including:

• Supporting an Anti-Scam Centre targeting mule accounts used by criminals to move stolen money
• Removing hyperlinks from texts sent to customers
• Raising awareness to educate the public on identifying scams

NZBA Chief Executive Roger Beaumont emphasised the need for telecoms, social media platforms, and the government to take action in preventing scams. Banks are seeking more government support, particularly in involving law enforcement in the Anti-Scam Centre’s work.

The technical integration of Confirmation of Payee into banking systems is the next phase, and although this service won’t eliminate all scams, it’s part of a broader strategy to strengthen consumer protection.

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