Recently, Kiwibank advised its customers that the banking industry is working to develop and launch a “Confirmation of Payee” service to avoid making payments to scammers. The service checks whether the account name matches the account number of the person or business you are paying before you push the button to make the payment.
The service doesn’t apply to payments to overseas bank accounts, previously saved payees (unless you edit them), or businesses that have registered their payment details in the registered bill payee list, such as councils, water and power companies.
As Kiwibank points out, “In the past, you may have entered initials or a nickname when making a payment. The new service requires you to enter the exact first and last name, or business name, registered to the account, into the Account Owner field. So, be sure to ask the person or business you’re paying to share the exact name on their account – not just their account number. A business’ account name could be the legal name of the company, rather than its trading name.”
For Kiwibank customers (and possibly other banks) there is a new “Check payee details” button to initiate a Confirmation of Payee check of the account owner name and number you’ve entered.
Once you have done all that you can be sure you are paying the right person. For more information go to: https://www.kiwibank.co.nz/personal-banking/accounts/payments/how-to-make-a-payment/#confirmation-of-payee-common-questions
Meanwhile, in addition to its own Confirmation of Payee service, the BNZ announced that it was launching what might be termed a Scam Panic Button. It is introducing an online banking lock feature, allowing customers to disable all online banking activity and lock access if they suspect scammers have compromised their accounts.
Pushing the button on the BNZ banking app will stop all Internet banking activity for that account. Customers will still be able to use their cards for shopping. There is a catch in that customers will have to front up at a branch with ID to unlock their account, for a fee. For more information click HERE