We all want quick and easy online payments, but fast transactions can give fraudsters an opportunity to trap unwary New Zealanders.

There’s also a risk that your money is accidentally sent to the wrong account. When that happens, it’s often fixable but it’s a hassle and can take time.

Help is on the way. New Zealand banks have worked together to bring a Confirmation of Payee service to New Zealanders, giving them greater confidence that they’re paying the right person online.

ASB Fraud Expert Alex Hinde says Confirmation of Payee, also known as CoP, allows you to check that an account owner’s name and number match before making a payment.

He says: “Today, when you pay someone online, the only thing you have to go on is an account number. CoP means another piece of information is needed before making a payment, allowing you to make an informed decision about whether or not you are comfortable going ahead with the payment.”

CoP is simple to use. When you make a one-off payment to someone new or set up a new payee in your bank app or internet banking, you are asked for the recipient’s account owner name and account number. If you’re paying a business, you’ll need their correct business account name.

The system then checks this information against the bank’s records and reports back a response like ‘Match’, ‘Partial match’ or ‘Not a match’.

Armed with this information, you can then decide if you’re comfortable proceeding with the payment or not.

While the check will always appear for payments to new payees, you can choose to proceed with the payment regardless of the response. Banks won’t block a payment if the account number and name aren’t a match.

Hinde says: “No matter what the outcome of the check is, it’s up to you whether you make the payment or not. You stay in control. But always take a second to check you’re confident that you’re paying the right person before proceeding.

This focus on encouraging you to pause and think before making a payment is a crucial aspect of CoP.

“In today’s modern world, everybody’s attention is pulled in 1000 different directions. It’s easy to just get swept up into just making the payment. CoP acts to help you focus, it gives you a moment of mindfulness before pushing the button.”

Most New Zealand banks are currently rolling out CoP. It’s a staggered roll-out, which means not everyone will get it straight away, but banks have committed to completing the roll out of the service by Easter 2025.

When it arrives, everyone will get a similar experience regardless of who they bank with.

Developing a consistent, industry-wide approach was a deliberate decison by the banks and GetVerified, the organisation established by New Zealand banks to implement and manage the service.

“We looked at other jurisdictions, what the pain points were and where there were inconsistencies. One of the things that boiled to the top was the need for a national, standardised approach to Confirmation of Payee”, Hinde says.

The matching logic used by CoP can handle common name variations, transpositions and some spelling mistakes. If you get a ‘Partial match’ or ‘Not a match’, Hinde advises you to first check you’ve entered the details correctly, then contact the person you were planning to pay and check you have the right account details. If it is a business, then go back to them using a trusted channel such as a publicly listed number and verify the information. If you’ve been talking to someone specific, ask to be put through to them.

To help customers, ASB is updating its mobile app and internet banking so that customers can find their correct account owner name. That way, they can easily share their details when people need to pay them.

For now, CoP will be limited to retail digital banking channels. That’s mobile apps and internet banking. The next focus is to improve and extend the service to other channels people make payments through, including business banking platforms.

There’s no charge for CoP. It’s designed to help New Zealanders avoid the hassle of chasing down misdirected payments and ultimately give us all increased confidence that we’re paying the right person.

For more on Confirmation of Payee, check your bank’s website or getverified.co.nz. If you’re an ASB customer, you can find all the detail at asb.co.nz/cop.