Emerge has today announced it is the first non-bank in New Zealand to go live with Confirmation of Payee, a major payment protection feature designed to help reduce scams and misdirected payments.

Confirmation of Payee checks whether the account details entered for a new payee match trusted verification data, including the recipient’s name, bank, and account number. If a match can’t be confirmed, customers are notified before the payment is sent, giving them the opportunity to pause and double-check the details.

The launch marks a significant milestone for the New Zealand fintech sector, extending an important protection traditionally available through banks into the wider digital payments ecosystem.“Payment scams and simple mistakes are costing Kiwis millions each year,” said Jody Cruttenden, Marketing & Growth Lead at Emerge. “Confirmation of Payee adds a simple but powerful layer of protection at exactly the right moment. We’re proud to be the first non-bank to have this live and to bring the same level of payment protection people expect from banks into a simpler, more modern experience, and extend it beyond traditional banking.”

Confirmation of Payee is available across Emerge personal, sole trader, and business accounts.

The feature is powered by the anti-scam delivery centre, GetVerified New Zealand, which operates the centralised Confirmation of Payee service used by New Zealand’s financial institutions to help verify account details.

Duncan Robertson, CEO of GetVerified, says Emerge’s adoption of the service is an important step forward.

“We’re pleased to see Confirmation of Payee launching with innovative non-bank account issuers like Emerge. Broader adoption has been a goal from day one, and this marks another step in making the service more widely available, following the successful launch of our VerifyBiz pilot late last year for businesses and government agencies.The more widely available the service becomes, the more confidence New Zealanders can have that payments are going to the intended recipient.”