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The challenge: reducing fraud risk in onboarding
Primary use cases
- Customer onboarding, including setting up paperless direct debits
- Verifying account details before payments are made
Pain points
- Friction in onboarding, with customers required to source and provide proof of bank account
- Limited confidence in the authenticity of identification and proof documents provided
- Risk of payments or direct debits being set up against incorrect or fraudulent account details
- Time-consuming and costly recovery processes if funds were paid incorrectly
We spoke to Bridget Latham, Customer Services & Finance Manager of NZ Fuel Cards and Chantel de Ru, Business Analyst at FlexR.
Despite multiple checks, including credit checks, identification and bank statements; onboarding remained time-consuming and did not fully reduce the risk of incorrect or fraudulent account details.
“People committing fraud are so clever these days. Their attention to detail and the fake documents they can provide are extremely similar to the real thing. It’s a real problem. They could have spent heaps of money on fuel, and then not pay the bill,” said Bridget.
The solution
VerifyBiz was integrated as an API into the customer onboarding process. With the introduction of account verification, the team gained greater confidence in their onboarding processes.
When setting up a new customer or payee, they can now check whether the account name and number match bank records, providing an additional layer of assurance before payments are enabled.
“This has been a game changer for our team…it gives us that extra layer of security for the business,” said Bridget.
The benefits
Bridget estimates the team is saving up to an hour a day through a more streamlined onboarding process.
“It literally slashed the time spent checking bank account numbers. If we get the red exclamation mark, we know it doesn’t match, it’s a red flag immediately so we don’t waste our time progressing the application until it’s sorted out.”
The team is also clear about the role the tool plays, understanding that while account verification with VerifyBiz is very good, it’s not a silver bullet for fraud and scams.
“It’s not going to prevent fraud in its entirety and we accept that. Our team is extra vigilant and have other processes in place. But when we get the little green tick, we know the bank account name and number match. The team really enjoy having it onboard.”
Onboarding: fast integration, strong support
The team were surprised by how quickly and smoothly the implementation progressed.
“We were really keen to get this done as quickly as possible. [The GetVerified team] were super accommodating and we managed to get it integrated really fast. The onboarding was seamless and everything we needed was available when we needed it,” said Chantel.
Communication throughout the API integration was also straightforward, with strong engagement across both teams.
“We were the quickest to date in API onboarding. It only took around 20 working days from design through to integration, including rounds of testing and checking everything was working as expected.”
“It has never been this easy. GetVerified has set the new benchmark for API integration,” said Chantel.
For NZ Fuel Cards and FlexR, strengthening account verification has helped them balance speed, experience, and control as fraud risks continue to evolve.
