Since the rollout of the Confirmation of Payee account verification service across New Zealand banks, nearly 20% of users report the service has helped them avoid a misdirected payment or a potential scam.
With almost 100 million transactions processed since the service was embedded into banking journeys last year, the GetVerified survey data suggests that around 20 million payments were paused or corrected by New Zealanders who “took a sec to check.”
Key findings from the GetVerified survey include:
- High adoption: 65% of New Zealanders use the service at least monthly, with 37% using it weekly.
- Behavioural Change: Over 80% of users refuse to proceed with a payment when faced with a "No Match" result.
- Scam Interception: 5% of respondents credited the service with helping them avoid a scam, while 13% stated it helped them avoid incorrect payment.
- Payment confidence: 80% of respondents said the service made them feel more confident when making an account-to-account payment.
“This is exactly the outcome we wanted to see,” says Duncan Robertson, CEO of GetVerified. “The technology is doing more than just matching account details; it’s creating a psychological speed bump, giving people a chance to stop and ensure they know and trust the recipient before hitting send.”
GetVerified welcomes businesses to the fight back against AI fraud
As part of its mission to make payments safer from scams, GetVerified is officially moving into its next phase after completing pilots with a range of organisations, including iwi, fintechs, wealth managers and government agencies using its account verification tool.
“To protect New Zealanders, this protection needs to be wherever payments are made so this includes all the businesses and organisations we interact with on a day-to-day basis,” says Robertson.
Through no fault of their own, many businesses aren’t adapting fast enough as AI has meant fraudsters have access to a growing number of tools and techniques that find weaknesses and take advantage of systems and people. The ability to convincingly impersonate senior leaders, forge documentation and bypass established payment processes, leaves even well-run organisations exposed.
“Account verification helps us to even the playing field and strengthen the defences well-before payments are made, resulting in greater confidence. says Robertson.
In partnership with creative and media agency Contagion, GetVerified has launched a nationwide call to arms for businesses this month. The campaign, Welcome to the fight back, urges New Zealand businesses to strengthen protections where they can, to keep ahead of fraud and scams.
“Our clients are telling us that fraud and scams are a major problem across the board. Account verification allows businesses to strengthen their processes, streamline onboarding journeys and give them greater confidence when they make payments. It’s heartening to hear how it’s helping on multiple fronts.”
For more information about our Confirmation of Payee account verification tools for businesses and organisations visit: getverified.co.nz/welcome-to-the-fight-back
