According to Beaumont, this means the confirmation of payee service might not be available across all online banking platforms “simultaneously” but retail banks want to have the service available across all online personal banking channels by Easter 2025.
Banking Association chief executive Roger Beaumont acknowledged that it would take different banks different lengths of time to test and deliver the system. “The technology build and integration of the new service differs across banks, so it’s unsurprising that each bank’s testing and delivery phase looks slightly different.”
The New Zealand Banking Association said confirmation of payee will provide an extra layer of reassurance for customers in NZ, but cautioned people not to be complacent.
The system will not fully protect them from scams and criminals will continue to look for ways to trick customers into making payments, Beaumont said.
The latest Retail Banking Insights publication from the New Zealand Banking Association – the banking lobby group – found 39.7% of mortgage holders in NZ were ahead of minimum mortgage repayments.
New Zealand’s retail banks will start rolling out the new Confirmation of Payee service by the end of November this year, says the New Zealand Banking Association. It will be a phased delivery to customers to ensure proper testing and customer satisfaction.
Confirmation of Payee will provide bank customers with an extra level of reassurance when making domestic payments from one bank account to another. The service will allow them to check that the account name matches the account number. This will happen before the payment is made.
The new service will notify customers whether the account name and number match real-time bank records. Customers will be provided with a match, partial match or no match notification. Where the payee’s bank does not yet offer the service the payer will receive a ‘cannot check payee details’ notification.
While the new service will help provide some reassurance to customers making domestic payments, banks are reminding customers to remain vigilant. The system will not fully protect them from scams and criminals will continue to look for ways to trick customers into making payments.
When making a payment to someone, it’s always a good idea to take the time to check why you’re making the payment and whether you can trust the recipient.
New Zealand Banking Association chief executive Roger Beaumont says: “Banks have been working together at pace to start making the service available before the end of the year. Due to the size and complexity of payments services the banks offer, some banks are adopting a phased approach to ensure thorough user testing and customer understanding.
“The technology build and integration of the new service differs across banks, so it’s unsurprising that each bank’s testing and delivery phase looks slightly different. It’s crucial that all banks gain assurance the system is working as it should, across their online and mobile banking platforms and services, before rolling it out broadly. This will ensure a smooth implementation particularly, in New Zealand, where so many people have more than one bank.
“For customers, this means Confirmation of Payee might not be available across all online banking platforms simultaneously. They might find that a Confirmation of Payee check is available from some banks and not others, alternatively it might be available on your desktop banking platform but not your mobile app, or vice versa.
“The good news is that banks are working to have the service available across all online personal banking channels by Easter 2025. As a bank customer, you can expect to hear more from your bank about their approach and timing for introducing the new service.”
Banks participating in the new Confirmation of Payee service are ANZ, ASB, Bank of China, BNZ, CCB, The Co-operative Bank, Heartland Bank, ICBC, Kiwibank, Rabobank, SBS Bank, TSB, and Westpac.
“The phased approach is similar to how banks implemented Confirmation of Payee in the United Kingdom.
“Our banks are working with obconnect, which is a leading global provider of Confirmation of Payee and other tech solutions.
“We are joining a very small number of countries that already have a Confirmation of Payee service.”
Confirmation of Payee is one of a suite of anti-scam initiatives the banking industry committed to in September last year.
For more information about Confirmation of Payee, see: www.getverified.co.nz.
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Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (more…)
Despite tough economic conditions, New Zealand bank customers are handling their financial responsibilities well, according to the New Zealand Banking Association’s latest retail banking insights for January to June 2024.
The NZBA figures show that there are 9.86 million unique banking customers. Of those, 9,267 customers applied for hardship status, up 1% from the period between July 2023 and December 2023. 5,968 customers were granted hardship status, up 6.9%.
Bank customers are managing their money relatively well in the current economic conditions according to retail banking insights released today by the New Zealand Banking Association.
The insights from January to June this year showed customers continued to use credit cards prudently and were maintaining home loan repayments.
Of the 2.23 million customers who had a credit card, who had an average monthly card spend of $2,072, 67.2% paid off their monthly balance in full without incurring any interest cost, up 0.6% compared to the previous six months.
Of the 1.38 million home loans across 1.14 million customers, the average loan value was $318,151. The average home loan value for first home buyers was $472,361. Only 1.4% of home loan customers were behind on their repayments, while 39.7% were paying more than their minimum repayments – down slightly from 41.4% in the previous period.
13,095 home loans switched from principal and interest payments to interest-only, down 6.9% from the previous period.
New Zealand Banking Association chief executive Roger Beaumont says: “We know that some people are experiencing financial difficulty in the current economic conditions. These insights provide a wider picture that shows, despite these headwinds, the vast majority of New Zealanders are managing their financial situation well.”
There are 9.86 million unique banking customers. Of those, 9,267 customers applied for hardship status, up 1% from the last period. 5,968 customers were granted hardship status, up 6.9%.
“Savers continued to make the most of raised interest rates from January to June, with the average interest rate on term deposits sitting at 6.1%. That will now likely decline with the Reserve Bank moving in August to start reducing the official cash rate. The next OCR update due on Wednesday is also widely expected to bring a further decrease,” says Beaumont. The average interest rate on savings accounts in the period was 3.8%.
The value of term deposits increased by 6.6% to $183 billion, with an average balance $107,800.
The full set of retail banking insights for January to June 2024 is available here: https://www.nzba.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Retail-banking-insights-January-to-June-2024.pdf
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